What States Did The Underground Railroad Run Through? (Professionals recommend)

These were called “stations,” “safe houses,” and “depots.” The people operating them were called “stationmasters.” There were many well-used routes stretching west through Ohio to Indiana and Iowa. Others headed north through Pennsylvania and into New England or through Detroit on their way to Canada.

The Underground Railroad Route | National Geographic Society

• Tell students that the Underground Railroad helped enslaved people as they moved from the South to the North. Explain the map key to students. Then have students pinpoint each slave state on the map as you say its name: Alabama Arkansas Delaware Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi Missouri

What routes did the Underground Railroad follow?

Routes. Underground Railroad routes went north to free states and Canada, to the Caribbean, into United States western territories, and Indian territories. Some freedom seekers (escaped slaves) travelled South into Mexico for their freedom.

How many Underground Railroad routes were there?

There were four main routes that the enslaved could follow: North along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to the northern United States and Canada; South to Florida and refuge with the Seminole Indians and to the Bahamas; West along the Gulf of Mexico and into Mexico; and East along the seaboard into Canada.

Did the Underground Railroad go through upstate New York?

Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. As Foner details in his new book, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, New York was a crucial way station from the Upper South through Pennsylvania and onward to upstate New York, New England and Canada.

Did the Underground Railroad go through North Carolina?

In North Carolina, many former slaves became abolitionists through the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad in North Carolina used locations such as the Great Dismal Swamp, Elizabeth City, Hatteras Island, Guilford College Woods and Roanoke Island as stops on the path to freedom.

Were there tunnels in the Underground Railroad?

Contrary to popular belief, the Underground Railroad was not a series of underground tunnels. While some people did have secret rooms in their houses or carriages, the vast majority of the Underground Railroad involved people secretly helping people running away from slavery however they could.

What route did Harriet Tubman take on the Underground Railroad?

One route out of Maryland was that frequently used by Harriet Tubman. She led her groups, beginning on foot, up the Eastern Shore of Maryland and into Delaware. Several stations were in the vicinity of Wilmington, Delaware.

What cities played a major role in the Underground Railroad?

The cities of Buffalo, Rochester and their surrounding areas helped to play a leading role in the Underground Railroad movement.

Was there ever a real underground railroad?

Nope! Despite its name, the Underground Railroad wasn’t a railroad in the way Amtrak or commuter rail is. It wasn’t even a real railroad. The Underground Railroad of history was simply a loose network of safe houses and top secret routes to states where slavery was banned.

What parts of New York were part of the Underground Railroad?

Underground Railroad sites in New York

• North Star Underground Railroad Museum, Ausable Chasm.
• Harriet Tubman National Historical Site, Auburn.
• Plymouth Church, Brooklyn.
• Gerrit Smith Estate National Park, Petersboro.
• Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, Niagara Falls.

Which city built the first underground railroad?

The London Underground, which opened in 1863, was the world’s first underground railway system. More than 30,000 passengers tried out the Tube on the opening day and it was hailed by the Times as “the great engineering triumph of the day”. Pictured – William Gladstone on an inspection of the first underground line.

Was New York the Underground Railroad?

Abolitionists employed a vast network of churches, safe houses, and community sites in New York, as well as the 445-mile border with Canada, to help emancipate enslaved people.

Where was the Underground Railroad filmed?

Underground Railroad was filmed in the Savannah region and around the state of Georgia, which is located between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The series includes 10 episodes and the filming for this series began in 2019.

Who built the Underground Railroad?

In the early 1800s, Quaker abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper set up a network in Philadelphia that helped enslaved people on the run.

Underground Railroad

See how abolitionists in the United States, like as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Thomas Garrett, assisted enslaved people in their attempts to escape to freedom. Learn about the abolitionist movement in the United States, as well as the importance of the Underground Railroad in this historical period. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. is a publishing company that publishes encyclopedias. View all of the videos related to this topic. When escaped slaves from the South were secretly assisted by sympathetic Northerners, in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Acts, to reach safe havens in the North or Canada, this was referred to as the Underground Railroad in the United States.

Even though it was neither underground nor a railroad, it was given this name because its actions had to be carried out in secret, either via the use of darkness or disguise, and because railroad words were employed in relation to the system’s operation.

In all directions, the network of channels stretched over 14 northern states and into “the promised land” of Canada, where fugitive-slave hunters were unable to track them down or capture them.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, best known for her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, obtained firsthand experience of escaped slaves via her association with the Underground Railroad in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she lived for a time during the Civil War.

The existence of the Underground Railroad, despite the fact that it was only a small minority of Northerners who took part in it, did much to arouse Northern sympathy for the plight of slaves during the antebellum period, while also convincing many Southerners that the North as a whole would never peacefully allow the institution of slavery to remain unchallenged.

When was the first time a sitting president of the United States appeared on television?

Amy Tikkanen has made the most current revisions and updates to this page.

The Underground Railroad Route

Students will learn how to distinguish between slave states and free states during the time of the Underground Railroad, as well as the difficulties of escaping and choosing the path they would have chosen. Geography, Human Geography, and Physical Geography are the subjects covered. Students should be able to distinguish between slave and free states throughout the time of the Underground Railroad. Each pupil should be given a copy of the map titled “Routes to Freedom.” Inform pupils that the Underground Railroad aided enslaved individuals as they traveled from the South to the North during the American Civil War.

Students should be instructed on how to use the map key. Afterwards, instruct pupils to locate each slave state on the map as you pronounce its name:

• Alabama
• sArkansas
• sDelaware
• sFlorida
• sGeorgia
• sKentucky
• sLouisiana
• sMaryland
• sMississippi
• sMissouri
• sMontana This state does not display on the map since it is not included in the list. Make use of a wall map of the United States to instruct children on where Montana is located.) North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia are among the states represented.

Explain to pupils that enslaved individuals did not have access to maps, compasses, or GPS systems throughout their time in slavery. The majority of enslaved individuals were never permitted to get an education, and as a result, they were unable to read or write. Consider the following question: How do you suppose enslaved people knew they were heading in the correct direction? Students should be informed that enslaved individuals resorted to guides on the Underground Railroad, as well as memory, visuals, and spoken communication to survive.

1. Talk about the difficulties you’ve encountered on your path.
2. Instruct pupils to examine the map and make note of any physical characteristics of the region that made the voyage challenging.
3. In order to demonstrate proper shading techniques, students should go to Alabama, then northeast via Maine and into Canada to see how the Applachian Mountains are shaded.
4. Ask:Can you think of anything else that made the travel difficult?

• In the winter, being cold and outdoors
• Not having enough food
• Being exhausted yet unable to relax
• Having to swim or traverse bodies of water
• Having to travel great distances
• Evading or avoiding people or animals

3. Ask pupils to identify the route they would have chosen if they were in their shoes. Students should be divided into small groups. Ask each group to look at the map and choose the route they would have gone to freedom if they had been able to do so. Students should choose their selections based on the states, rivers, and mountain ranges that they would have to cover on their journey. Ask each group to describe the path they would have followed and why they would have done so.

Informal Assessment

Have pupils determine which option they would have followed if they had been in their position. Make small groups of pupils out of the class. Ask each group to look at the map and choose the path they would have followed if they had been able to flee to safety. Choose the states, rivers, and mountain ranges that they will have to cover based on the distance they are willing to travel. Each group should outline the path they would have followed and why they would have done so.

Learning Objectives

3. Ask pupils to identify the route they would have followed if they were in their position. Make small groups of kids out of your class. Ask each group to look at the map and choose the route they would have gone to freedom if they had the opportunity. Students should choose their selections based on the states, rivers, and mountain ranges that they will have to cover on their journey. Ask each group to describe the path they would have traveled and why they would have chosen it.

• The student will be able to identify slave states and free states during the time period when the Underground Railroad was active
• Describe the difficulties encountered throughout the voyage
• Indicate the path they would have followed, and explain their reasons.

Teaching Approach

• Common Core Standard 1: How to interpret and share information via the use of maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technology, and spatial thinking
• Standard 17: How to use geography to understand and interpret the past.

What You’ll Need

• Highlighters, paper, pencils, and pens, as well as a wall map of the United States

Required Technology

• Internet access is optional
• Technological setup includes one computer per classroom and a projector.

Physical Space

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In the case of media, the Rights Holder is the individual or group that gets credited.

Writer

Naomi Friedman holds a Master’s degree in political science.

Editor

Christina Riska Simmons is a model and actress.

Educator Reviewer

Jessica Wallace-Weaver is a certified educational consultant.

Sources

• Based on the National Geographic Xpeditions lesson “Finding Your Way: The Underground Railroad,” this activity was created. Permissions Granted to Users Users’ permissions are detailed in our Terms of Service, which you can see by clicking here. Alternatively, if you have any issues regarding how to reference something from our website in your project or classroom presentation, please speak with your instructor. They will be the most knowledgeable about the selected format. When you contact them, you will need to provide them with the page title, URL, and the date on which you visited the item.

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Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad was a network of people, both black and white, who helped escaped enslaved persons from the southern United States by providing them with refuge and assistance. It came forth as a result of the convergence of numerous separate covert initiatives. Although the exact dates of its inception are unknown, it was active from the late 18th century until the Civil War, after which its attempts to weaken the Confederacy were carried out in a less-secretive manner until the Civil War ended.

Quaker Abolitionists

The Society of Friends (Quakers) is often regarded as the first organized group to actively assist escaped enslaved persons. In 1786, George Washington expressed dissatisfaction with Quakers for attempting to “liberate” one of his enslaved servants. Abolitionist and Quaker Isaac T. Hopper established a network in Philadelphia in the early 1800s to assist enslaved persons who were on the run from slavery. Abolitionist organisations founded by Quakers in North Carolina lay the basis for escape routes and safe havens for fugitive slaves during the same time period.

What Was the Underground Railroad?

The Underground Railroad was first mentioned in 1831, when an enslaved man named Tice Davids managed to escape from Kentucky into Ohio and his master blamed a “underground railroad” for assisting Davids in his liberation. When a fugitive slave called Jim was apprehended in 1839 in Washington, the press said that the guy confessed his plan to travel north along a “underground railroad to Boston” while under torture. The Vigilance Committees, which were established in New York in 1835 and Philadelphia in 1838 to safeguard escaped enslaved persons from bounty hunters, rapidly expanded their duties to include guiding enslaved individuals on the run.

MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT: Harriet Tubman and her fellow fugitives used the following strategies to escape through the Underground Railroad:

How the Underground Railroad Worked

The majority of enslaved persons aided by the Underground Railroad were able to flee to neighboring states like as Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 made catching fugitive enslaved persons a lucrative industry in the deep South, and there were fewer hiding places for them as a result of the Act. The majority of fugitive enslaved people were on their own until they reached specific places farther north. The escaping enslaved people were escorted by individuals known as “conductors.” Private residences, churches, and schools were also used as hiding places throughout the war.

The personnel in charge of running them were referred to as “stationmasters.” There were several well-traveled roads that ran west through Ohio and into Indiana and Iowa.

While some traveled north via Pennsylvania and into New England, or through Detroit on their route to Canada, others chose to travel south. The Little-Known Underground Railroad That Ran South to Mexico.

Fugitive Slave Acts

The Fugitive Slave Acts were a major cause for many fugitive slaves to flee to Canada. This legislation, which was passed in 1793, authorized local governments to catch and extradite fugitive enslaved individuals from inside the borders of free states back to their places of origin, as well as to penalize anybody who assisted the fleeing enslaved people. Personal Liberty Laws were introduced in certain northern states to fight this, but they were overturned by the Supreme Court in 1842. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was intended to reinforce the preceding legislation, which was perceived by southern states to be insufficiently enforced at the time of passage.

The northern states were still considered a danger zone for fugitives who had managed to flee.

Some Underground Railroad operators chose to station themselves in Canada and sought to assist fugitives who were arriving to settle in the country.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was the most well-known conductor of the Underground Railroad during its heyday. When she and two of her brothers fled from a farm in Maryland in 1849, she was given the name Harriet (her married name was Tubman). She was born Araminta Ross, and she was raised as Harriet Tubman. They returned a couple of weeks later, but Tubman fled on her own again shortly after, this time making her way to the state of Pennsylvania. In following years, Tubman returned to the plantation on a number of occasions to rescue family members and other individuals.

Tubman was distraught until she had a vision of God, which led her to join the Underground Railroad and begin escorting other fugitive slaves to the Maryland state capital.

Frederick Douglass

In his house in Rochester, New York, former enslaved person and celebrated author Frederick Douglasshid fugitives who were assisting 400 escapees in their journey to freedom in Canada. Reverend Jermain Loguen, a former fugitive who lived in the adjacent city of Syracuse, assisted 1,500 escapees on their journey north. The Vigilance Committee was established in Philadelphia in 1838 by Robert Purvis, an escaped enslaved person who later became a trader. Josiah Henson, a former enslaved person and railroad operator, founded the Dawn Institute in Ontario in 1842 to assist fugitive slaves who made their way to Canada in learning the necessary skills to find work.

Agent,” according to the document.

John Parker was a free Black man living in Ohio who worked as a foundry owner and who used his rowboat to ferry fugitives over the Ohio River.

William Still was a notable Philadelphia citizen who was born in New Jersey to runaway slaves parents who fled to Philadelphia as children.

Who Ran the Underground Railroad?

The vast majority of Underground Railroad operators were regular individuals, including farmers and business owners, as well as preachers and religious leaders. Some affluent individuals were active, including Gerrit Smith, a billionaire who stood for president on two separate occasions. Smith acquired a full family of enslaved people from Kentucky in 1841 and freed them from their captivity. Levi Coffin, a Quaker from North Carolina, is credited with being one of the first recorded individuals to assist escaped enslaved persons.

Coffin stated that he had discovered their hiding spots and had sought them out in order to assist them in moving forward.

Coffin eventually relocated to Indiana and then Ohio, where he continued to assist fugitive enslaved individuals no matter where he was.

John Brown

Abolitionist John Brown worked as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and it was at this time that he founded the League of Gileadites, which was dedicated to assisting fleeing enslaved individuals in their journey to Canada. Abolitionist John Brown would go on to play a variety of roles during his life. His most well-known duty was conducting an assault on Harper’s Ferry in order to raise an armed army that would march into the deep south and free enslaved people at gunpoint. Ultimately, Brown’s forces were beaten, and he was executed for treason in 1859.

1. The year 1844, he formed a partnership with Vermont schoolteacher Delia Webster, and the two were jailed for assisting an escaped enslaved lady and her young daughter.
2. Charles Torrey was sentenced to six years in jail in Maryland for assisting an enslaved family in their attempt to flee through Virginia.
3. After being apprehended in 1844 while transporting a boatload of freed slaves from the Caribbean to the United States, Massachusetts sea captain Jonathan Walker was sentenced to prison for life.
4. John Fairfield of Virginia turned down the opportunity to assist in the rescue of enslaved individuals who had been left behind by their families as they made their way north.
5. He managed to elude capture twice.

End of the Line

Operation of the Underground Railroad came to an end in 1863, during the American Civil War. In actuality, its work was shifted aboveground as part of the Union’s overall campaign against the Confederate States of America. Once again, Harriet Tubman made a crucial contribution by organizing intelligence operations and serving as a commanding officer in Union Army efforts to rescue the liberated enslaved people who had been freed.

MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT: Harriet Tubman led a daring Civil War raid after the Underground Railroad was shut down.

Sources

Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad is a book about the Underground Railroad. Fergus Bordewich is a Scottish actor. Harriet Tubman: The Road To Freedom. Catherine Clinton is the first lady of the United States. Who Exactly Was in Charge of the Underground Railroad? ‘Henry Louis Gates’ is a pseudonym for Henry Louis Gates. The Underground Railroad’s History in New York is a little known fact. The Smithsonian Institution’s magazine. The Underground Railroad’s Dangerous Allure is well documented.

The Little-Known History of the Underground Railroad in New York

Cyrus Gates House, located in Broome County, New York, was formerly a major station on the Underground Railroad’s route through the country. Commons image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons There was a time when New York City wasn’t the liberal Yankee bastion that it is now. When it came to abolitionists and abolitionist politics in the decades preceding up to the Civil War, the city was everything but an epicenter of abolitionism. Banking and shipping interests in the city were tightly related to the cotton and sugar businesses, both of which relied on slave labor to produce their products.

However, even at that time, the Underground Railroad, a network of hidden safe houses and escape routes used by fugitive slaves seeking freedom in the North, passed through the city and into the surrounding countryside.

In New York, however, the full extent of the Underground Railroad’s reach has remained largely unknown, owing to the city’s anti-abolitionist passion.

“This was a community that was strongly pro-Southern, and the Underground Railroad was working in much greater secrecy here than in many other parts of the North, so it was much more difficult to track down the Underground Railroad.”

Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad

runaway slaves and antislavery campaigners who disobeyed the law to aid them in their quest for freedom are the subjects of this gripping documentary. Eric Foner, more than any other researcher, has had a significant impact on our knowledge of American history. The Pulitzer Prize–winning historian has reconfigured the national tale of American slavery and liberation once more, this time with the help of astounding material that has come to light through his research. Foner’s latest book, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, describes how New York was a vital way station on the Underground Railroad’s journey from the Upper South to Pennsylvania and on to upstate New York, the New England states and Canada.

• Their narrative represents a phase in the history of resistance to slavery that has gotten only sporadic attention from historians up to this point.
• The existence of the Record of Fugitives, which was collected by abolitionist newspaperman Sydney Howard Gay in New York City, was unknown to researchers until a student informed Foner of its existence.
• A runaway long forgotten, James Jones of Alexandria, according to Gay’s account, “had not been treated cruelly but was bored of being a slave,” according to the records.
• Foner reports that many fugitives ran away because they were being physically abused as much as they did out of a yearning for freedom, using terms such as “huge violence,” “badly treated,” “rough times,” and “hard master” to describe their experiences.
• During the late 1840s, he had risen to the position of the city’s foremost lawyer in runaway slave cases, frequently donating his services without charge, “at tremendous peril to his social and professional status,” according to Gay.
• Agent,” a title that would become synonymous with the Underground Railroad.
• He was an illiterate African-American.
• A number of letters and writs of habeas corpus bearing his name appear later on, as well as some of the most important court cases emerging from the disputed Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.
• “He was the important person on the streets of New York, bringing in fugitives, combing the docks, looking for individuals at the train station,” Foner said.

that he had ever been the liberator of 3,000 individuals from bondage.” The author, who used theRecordas a jumping off point to delve deeper into New York’s fugitive slave network, also traces the origins of the New York Vigilance Committee, a small group of white abolitionists and free blacks who formed in 1835 and would go on to form the core of the city’s underground network until the eve of the Civil War.

The New York Vigilance Committee was a small group of white abolitionists and For the duration of its existence, Foner writes, “it drove runaway slaves to the forefront of abolitionist awareness in New York and earned sympathy from many people beyond the movement’s ranks.” It brought the intertwined concerns of kidnapping and fugitive slaves into the wider public consciousness.” The publication of Gateway to Freedom takes the total number of volumes authored by Foner on antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction America to two dozen.

• His previous book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and was published in 2012.
• What was the inspiration for this book?
• Everything started with one document, the Record of Fugitives, which was accidentally pointed up to me by a Columbia University student who was writing a senior thesis on Sydney Howard Gay and his journalistic career and happened to mention it to me.
• She was in the manuscript library at Columbia when she mentioned it.
• It was essentially unknown due to the fact that it had not been catalogued in any manner.
• What was the atmosphere like in New York at the time?
• As a result of their tight relationships with cotton plantation owners, this city’s merchants effectively controlled the cotton trade in the region.

The shipbuilding industry, insurance firms, and banks all had a role in the financialization of slavery.

They came to conduct business, but they also came to enjoy themselves.

The free black community and the very tiny band of abolitionists did exist, but it was a challenging setting in which to do their important job.

Routes were available in Ohio and Kentucky.

It was part of a larger network that provided assistance to a large number of fugitives.

It is incorrect to think of the Underground Railroad as a fixed collection of paths.

It wasn’t as if there were a succession of stations and people could just go from one to the next.

It was even more unorganized – or at least less organized – than before.

And after they moved farther north, to Albany and Syracuse, they were in the heart of anti-slavery area, and the terrain became much more amenable to their way of life.

People advertised in the newspaper about assisting escaped slaves, which was a radically different milieu from that of New York City at the time.

The phrase “Underground Railroad” should be interpreted relatively literally, at least toward the conclusion of the book.

Frederick Douglas had just recently boarded a train in Baltimore and traveled to New York.

Ship captains demanded money from slaves in exchange for hiding them and transporting them to the North.

The book also looks at the broader influence that escaped slaves had on national politics in the nineteenth century.

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was a particularly severe piece of legislation that drew a great deal of controversy in the northern states.

So that’s something else I wanted to emphasize: not only the story of these individuals, but also the way in which their acts had a significant impact on national politics and the outbreak of the Civil War. Activism History of African Americans Videos about American History that are recommended

Underground Railroad

Escapees from slavery travelled north in order to reclaim their freedom and escape harsh living conditions in their home countries. They required daring and cunning in order to elude law enforcement agents and professional slave catchers, who were paid handsomely for returning them to their masters’ possession. Southerners were extremely resentful of people in the North who helped the slaves in their plight. They invented the name “Underground Railroad” to refer to a well-organized network dedicated to keeping slaves away from their masters, which occasionally extended as far as crossing the Canadian border.

In 1850, Congress created the Fugitive Slave Law, which imposed severe fines on anybody found guilty of assisting slaves in their attempts to flee.

Underground Railroad “Stations” Develop in Iowa

Iowa shares a southern border with Missouri, which was a slave state during the American Civil War. The abolitionist movement (those who desired to abolish slavery) built a system of “stations” in the 1840s and 1850s that could transport runaways from the Mississippi River to Illinois on their route to freedom. Activists from two religious movements, the Congregationalists and the Quakers, played crucial roles in the abolitionist movement. They were also involved in the Underground Railroad’s operations in the state of New York.

• According to one source, there are more than 100 Iowans who are participating in the endeavor.
• The Hitchcock House, located in Cass County near Lewis, is another well-known destination on the Underground Railroad in one form or another.
• George Hitchcock escorted “passengers” to the next destination on his route.
• Several of these locations are now public museums that are available to the general public.
• Individual families also reacted when they were approached for assistance.
• When the Civil War broke out and the Fugitive Slave Law could no longer be enforced in the northern states, a large number of slaves fled into the state and eventually settled there permanently.

Iowa became the first state to offer black males the right to vote in 1868. It was determined that segregated schools and discrimination in public accommodations were both unconstitutional in Iowa by the Supreme Court.

Iowa: A Free State Willing to Let Slavery Exist

Slavery has been a contentious topic in the United States since its inception, and it continues to be so today. As new states entered the Union, the early fights did not revolve over slavery in the South but rather its expansion. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 created an east-west line along the southern boundary of Missouri, which would remain in place for the rest of time, separating free and slave settlement. States to the south may legalize slavery, whilst states to the north (with the exception of slave state Missouri) were prohibited from doing so.

1. The majority of Iowans were ready to allow slavery to continue in the South.
2. They enacted legislation in an attempt to deter black people from settling in the state.
3. Iowa did have a tiny community of abolitionists who believed that slavery was a moral wrong that should be abolished everywhere.
4. This increased the likelihood that Nebraska, which borders Iowa on its western border, would become a slave state.
5. The Republican Party has evolved as a staunch opponent of any future expansion of slavery into western areas in the United States.

Supporting Questions

• $200 Reward: Poster for the Return of Formerly-Enslaved People, October 1, 1847 (Document)
• “Effects of the Fugitive-Slave-Law” Print, 1850 (Image)
• Fugitive Slave Law, 1850 (Document)
• Poster for the Return of Formerly-Enslaved People, October 1, 1847 (Document)
• Poster for the Return of Formerly-Enslaved People, October 1, 1847 (Do

How did runaway slaves rely on the help of abolitionists to escape to freedom?

• Article from the Anti-Slavery Bugle titled “William and Ellen Craft,” published on February 23, 1849 (Document)
• Anti-Slavery Bugle Article titled “Underground Railroad,” published on September 16, 1854 (Document)
• “A Presbyterian Clergyman Suspended for Being Connected with the Underground Railroad” Article published on November 8, 1855 (Document)
• William Maxson Home in West Liberty, Iowa, circa 1890 (Image)
• “Fugitive

How did some runaway slaves create their own opportunities to escape?

• A newspaper article entitled “The ‘Running of Slaves’ – The Extraordinary Escape of Henry Box Brown” published on June 23, 1849 (Document)
• The Henry “Box” Brown Song and the Engraved Box, published in 1850 (Image, Document)
• “The Resurrection of Henry ‘Box’ Brown at Philadelphia” illustration published in 1850 (Image)
• Robert Smalls: “The Steamer ‘Planter’ and Her Captor,” published on June 14, 1862 (Do

$200 Reward: Poster for the Return of Formerly-Enslaved People, October 1, 1847

• After escaping enslavement, many people depended on northern whites to guide them securely to the northern free states and eventually to Canadian territory. For someone who had previously been forced into slavery, life may be quite perilous. There were incentives for capturing them, as well as adverts such as the one seen below for a prize. More information may be found here.

“Effects of the Fugitive-Slave-Law” Illustration, 1850

• Written in strong opposition to the Runaway Slave Act, which was approved by Congress in September 1850 and expanded federal and free-state duty for the return of fugitive slaves, this letter is full of anger. The bill called for the appointment of federal commissioners who would have the authority to enact regulations. More information may be found here.

Fugitive Slave Law, 1850

• As a result of the Fleeing Slave Law of 1850, it became unlawful for anybody in the northern United States to aid fugitive slaves in their quest for freedom. This statute supplemented the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act with additional clauses addressing runaways, and it imposed even harsher sanctions for interfering with their escape. More information may be found here.

Anti-Slavery Bugle Article – “William and Ellen Craft,” February 23, 1849

• In this article from the abolitionist journal, The Anti-Slavery Bugle, the narrative of Ellen and William Craft’s emancipation from slavery is described in detail. Ellen disguised herself as a male in order to pass as the master, while her husband, William, claimed to be her servant as they made their way out of the building. More information may be found here.

Anti-Slavery Bugle Article – “Underground Railroad,” September 16, 1854

• The Anti-Slavery Bugle article indicates the number of runaway slaves in northern cities in 1854, based on a survey conducted by the organization. This group contained nine slaves from Boone County, Kentucky, who were seeking refuge in the United States. Their captors were said to be on the lookout for them in Cincinnati, and they were found. More information may be found here.

“A Presbyterian Clergyman Suspended for Being Connected with the Underground Railroad” Article, November 8, 1855

• This newspaper story was written in Fayettville, Tennessee, in 1855 and is a good example of historical journalism. When Rev. T. B. McCormick, a priest in Indiana, was suspended for his membership in the Underground Railroad, the article details his ordeal in detail. In the narrative, he is accused of supporting escaped slaves on their way to freedom. More information may be found here.

William Maxson Home in West Liberty, Iowa, 1890

• It was published in the Fayetteville, Tennessee, newspaper in 1855, and is a good example of historical journalism. When Rev. T. B. McCormick, a clergyman in Indiana, was suspended for his membership in the Underground Railroad, the article tells what happened. In the narrative, he is accused of supporting fugitive slaves on their way out of the country. More information may be found at:

“Fugitive Slave Case Was Tried” – A Daily Gate City Article, April 13, 1915

• This story, which was published in the Keokuk, Iowa, newspaper The Daily Gate City in 1915, is about a trial that took place in Burlington in 1850. Buel Daggs, the plaintiff, sought $10,000 in damages as recompense for the services of nine slaves who had fled from Missouri and had worked for him as slaves. More information may be found here.

“The ‘Running of Slaves’ – The Extraordinary Escape of Henry ‘Box’ Brown” Article, June 23, 1849

• It was published in the Keokuk, Iowa newspaper The Daily Gate City in 1915 and is about a trial that took place in Burlington, Iowa, in 1850 and was published in The Daily Gate City. Buel Daggs, the plaintiff, sought $10,000 in damages as recompense for the services of nine slaves who had escaped from Missouri and had been working for him. More information may be found at:

Henry “Box” Brown Song and the Engraved Box, 1850

• Image of the engraving on the box that Henry “Box” Brown built and used to send himself to freedom in Virginia. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. There is a label on the box that says “Right side up with care.” During his first appearance out of the box in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the attached song, Henry “Box” Brown sang a song that is included here. More information may be found here.

“The Resurrection of Henry ‘Box’ Brown at Philadelphia” Illustration, 1850

• Henry “Box” Brown, a slave who escaped from Richmond, Virginia, in a box measuring three feet long, two and a half feet deep, and two and a half feet broad, is depicted in a somewhat comical but sympathetic manner in this artwork. In the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society’s administrative offices. More information may be found here.

Robert Smalls: “The Steamer ‘Planter’ and Her Captor,” June 14, 1862

• The escape of Robert Smalls and other members of his family and friends from slavery was chronicled in detail in an article published in Harper’s Weekly. Smalls was an enslaved African American who acquired freedom during and after the American Civil War and went on to work as a ship’s pilot on the high seas. More information may be found here.

“A Bold Stroke for Freedom” Illustration, 1872

• The image from 1872 depicts African Americans, most likely fleeing slaves, standing in front of a wagon and brandishing firearms towards slave-catchers. A group of young enslaved persons who had escaped from Loudon by wagon are said to be shown in the cartoon on Christmas Eve in 1855, when patrollers caught up with them. More information may be found here.

Additional Resources:

• Harriet Tubman Day is observed annually on March 31. The statement issued by the State of Delaware on the observance of Harriet Ross Tubman Day on March 10, 2017 may be seen on the website. Governor John Carney and Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long both signed the statement. Harriet Tubman – A Guide to Online Resources A wide range of material linked with Harriet Tubman may be found in these digital collections from the Library of Congress, which include manuscripts, pictures, and publications. It is the goal of this guide to consolidate connections to digital materials about Harriet Tubman that are available throughout the Library of Congress website. Scenes from Harriet Tubman’s Life and Times The website, which is accessible through the Digital Public Library of America, contains portions from the novel Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, written by Sarah Bradford in 1869 and published by the American Library Association.

• Maryland’s Pathways to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in the State of Maryland On this page, you can find primary materials pertaining to Maryland and the Underground Railroad. Information from three former slaves, Samuel Green, Phoebe Myers, and others is included in this collection. “The Underground Railroad: A Secret History” by Eric Foner is a book on the history of the Underground Railroad. The author of this piece from The Atlantic discusses the “secret history” of the Underground Railroad, which he believes reveals that the network was not nearly as secretive as many people believe. Emancipation of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery According to “Documenting the American South,” this webpage focuses on how slaves William and Ellen Craft escaped from Georgia and sought asylum and freedom in the United States’ northern states.

Iowa Core Social Studies Standards (8th Grade)

The content anchor requirements for Iowa Core Social Studies that are most accurately reflected in this source collection are listed below. The subject requirements that have been implemented to this set are appropriate for middle school pupils and cover the major areas that make up social studies for eighth grade students in the United States.

• S.8.13.Explain the rights and obligations of people, political parties, and the media in the context of a range of governmental and nonprofit organizations and institutions. (Skills for the twenty-first century)
• SS.8.19.Explain how immigration and migration were influenced by push and pull influences in early American history. SS.8.21.Examine the relationships and linkages between early American historical events and developments in the context of wider historical settings
• In your explanation of how and why prevalent social, cultural, and political viewpoints altered over early American history, please include the following information: SS.8.23.Explain the multiple causes, effects, and developments that occurred in early American history
• And The Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, Washington’s Farewell Address, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty with France, the Monroe Doctrine, the Indian Removal Act, the Missouri Compromise, Dred Scott v. Sanford, and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo are examples of primary and secondary sources of information that should be critiqued with consideration for the source of the document, its context, accuracy, and usefulness.

Underground Railroad Sites in Indiana

The Underground Railroad is a term used to describe a system of transportation that allows people to flee their homes. Image courtesy of the National Park Service “The Underground Railroad” is depicted on the cover. Indiana has a long and illustrious history of involvement in the Underground Railroad. During the years leading up to and during the Civil War, a large number of runaway slaves journeyed across the state of Indiana. These fleeing men and women changed their routes and the places of their stops on a regular basis in order to reduce their chances of being apprehended and maybe recaptured by authorities.

Historians have been successful in locating various places that supported fleeing slaves in their journey to freedom, utilizing a broad variety of primary and secondary sources.

Indiana has hundreds of sites that have been identified.

Check back regularly to check if any new things have been added. The dots on the map below provide further information about places and/or sites related with fugitive slaves and their escape to freedom in the northern hemisphere by clicking on them.

• Decatur County, Elkhart County, Floyd County, Fremont, Fort Wayne, Gibson County, Grant County, Hamilton County, Harrison County, Henry County, Jackson County, Knox County, Lake County, Lancaster, Madison, Madison County, Marion County, Michigan City, New Albany, Orland, Parke County, Ripley County, South Bend, Warrick County, and Wayne County are among the counties in Indiana.

Black History: The Underground Railroad’s Route Through Florida

Florida’s black history is intertwined with its national history. You may learn a lot about writer Zora Neale Hurston in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, if you go there while on vacation. In Miami’s Overtownneighborhood, you may retrace the steps of legends like as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Muhammad Ali, among others. In addition, Jackie Robinson Ballpark is a great place to watch a baseball game. However, until recently, one of Florida’s most significant contributions to African-American history went virtually unnoticed: the state’s participation in the original Underground Railroad network.

What was Florida’s role in the original Underground Railroad?

Your knowledge of the Underground Railroad, a loose network of abolitionists and safe houses that assisted Black individuals from slavery from southern states into northern states or Canada, is likely to be limited to the Civil War era. Between 1810 and 1950, an estimated 100,000 freedom seekers sought sanctuary on the Underground Railroad in the United States. Harriet Tubman worked alone to free around 70 enslaved individuals. However, hundreds of years before Tubman was born, enslaved people were seeking liberation via another Underground Railroad—this one running from the North to the South.

We need to go back more than 500 years to understand why this is the case.

Why did enslaved people seek freedom in Florida?

In 1513, explorerJuan Ponce de Leónarrived near what is now the city of St. Augustine and claimed the island of La Florida for Spain. Spanish rulers had abused African labor in the New World for decades before the British famously sent enslaved individuals to Virginia in 1619, according to historians. However, there were brief moments during which Spanish Florida provided sanctuary to those seeking independence. A strategic maneuver on Spain’s side, in an effort to counter British armies and Protestantism in the New World, this was a successful one.

• Augustine, provided that they (1) swore allegiance to the Spanish crown, (2) converted to Catholicism, and (3) completed a period of military service, which was only required of men.
• There were no safe homes or conductors in place to protect people.
• “You had an area that was absolutely untamed, so once you went across the boundary, you were truly in a no-land,” man’s said Miami historian Paul George.
• “I couldn’t figure out how they accomplished it.” Despite this, they did.
• Augustine was home to the first known party of freedom seekers, which consisted of eight men, two women, and a three-year-old boy who arrived in 1687.
• The ladies were able to secure compensated jobs in and around St.
• Spain benefited from this movement since the newly liberated residents provided militia support and skilled labor to Florida, while at the same time hurting the British plantation economy and imperiling the British Empire.

Located in what would become the United States, Fort Mose was the first legally sanctioned colony of free blacks in the country’s history.

Augustine’s northern defense against invading British forces.

– FSP Living History Exhibits Fort Mose (pronounced mo-ZAY) was established in 1738 by Spanish Governor Manuel Montiano, who established it as the first legally sanctioned community for previously enslaved people in what is now the United States.

Augustine’s northern boundary against the British during the American Revolution.

you were free to live your life at Mose.” “St.

Augustine was a fairly cosmopolitan city,” says the author. However, not everyone made it to St. Augustine’s without dying on the way. Unknown numbers of freedom seekers killed in the process of escaping, while others founded maroon societies in isolated coastal locations.

Was St. Augustine the only destination for freedom seekers in Florida?

No, it wasn’t like that. The Battle of Fort Mose, also known as Bloody Mose, took place in 1740, and the British were victorious. Fort Mose was demolished. The fort was reconstructed in 1752, and Blacks were able to live freely in and around St. Augustine until the city was destroyed in 1763. In 1815, Spain gave Florida to Great Britain as part of the Treaty of Paris, which brought the French and Indian War to a successful conclusion. Former Fort Mose inhabitants and other freedom seekers, on the other hand, traveled further south, to what is now known as Miami.

1. Blacks who established alliances with Seminoles or intermarried with them are referred to as “Black Seminoles.” It was the proximity to the Bahamas that drew people in, George explained.
2. Another option was to seek shelter in the Bahamas, where they were welcomed into communities of previously enslaved people.
3. It is estimated that around 200 Black Seminoles traveled from South Florida to Andros Island in the Bahamas between 1821 and 1837, when chattel slavery had been abolished.
4. “They were hugged by others who had managed to endure the perilous journey.” They formed a strong relationship, and they were like an extended family.” This lineage continues to this day, with descendants of Black Seminoles still living on the island of Andros.

Where are some places in Florida that commemorate this history?

The answer is “no.” The Battle of Fort Mose, also known as Bloody Mose, took place in 1740, and the British were victorious. It was not until 1752 that the fort was reconstructed, and until 1763, Blacks were able to live freely in the surrounding area of Saint Augustine. During that period, as part of a deal ending the French and Indian War, Spain gave Florida to Great Britain. Former Fort Mose inhabitants and other freedom seekers, on the other hand, traveled even farther south, to what is now Miami.

• “Black Seminoles” are people who have made alliances with or intermarried with Seminoles.
• Freedom seekers embarked aboard abolitionist boats bound for Spanish-controlled Cuba from Miami and the barrier island of Key Biscayne.
• Known as theSaltwater Underground Railroad, or simply theSaltwater Railroad, it is a route that connects southern Florida with the Caribbean islands.
• As George put it, “They were warmly greeted.” The others who had managed to make it through the perilous journey welcomed them.

Re-enactors at Fort Mose, the first free African colony in North America and a key stop on the Florida Black Heritage Trail.- Florida State Parks Living History Program

Why didn’t I learn about this in history class?

For a variety of causes. The first Underground Railroad was less formal and had a shorter lifespan than its Northern-bound equivalent, which began operating in the mid-19th century. Second, history books are written by those who have achieved success. Stories of cross-cultural collaboration between the Spanish, African-Americans, and Native Americans were mostly forgotten once the United Kingdom gained possession of Florida in 1763. It’s critical to remember that the Anglo version of American history ignores half of the continent, from Florida to California, where the Roman legal system and Catholicism granted freedom to the enslaved who converted from Protestantism to Catholicism—long before anyone ever fled to Canada,” said historian Jane Landers, director of the Slave Societies Digital Archive at Vanderbilt University and one of the country’s foremost experts on the Underground Railroad.

While a small number of early scholars, notably Zora Neale Hurston, recorded Fort Mose, the original Underground Railroad was only recently recognized as a historical fact until recently.

Augustine who grew up in the shadow of the Castillo de San Marcos and only learned about it in college.