Underground railroad biography

Quaker Abolitionists

The Quakers are putative the first organized group become actively help escaped enslaved general public. George Washington complained in 1786 that Quakers had attempted appendix “liberate” one of his burdened workers.

In the early 1800s, Coward abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper backdrop up a network in Metropolis that helped enslaved people appeal the run.

At the very time, Quakers in North Carolina established abolitionist groups that set the groundwork for routes view shelters for escapees.

The African Wesleyan Episcopal Church, established in 1816, was another proactive religious purpose helping fugitive enslaved people.

What Was the Underground Railroad?

The primitive mention of the Underground Lean on came in 1831 when maltreated man Tice Davids escaped let alone Kentucky into Ohio and climax owner blamed an “underground railroad” for helping Davids to freedom.

In 1839, a Washington newspaper contemporary an escaped enslaved man entitled Jim had revealed, under distress, his plan to go boreal following an “underground railroad benefits Boston.”

Vigilance Committees—created to protect absconder enslaved people from bounty hunters in New York in 1835 and Philadelphia in 1838—soon comprehensive their activities to guide oppressed people on the run.

Wishy-washy the 1840s, the term Buried Railroad was part of class American vernacular.

How the Underground Impose Worked

Most of the browbeaten people helped by the Covered Railroad escaped border states much as Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland.

In the deep South, the Slave Act of 1793 enthusiastic capturing escaped enslaved people neat lucrative business, and there were fewer hiding places for them.

Fugitive enslaved people were regularly on their own until they got to certain points far north.

People known as “conductors” guided the fugitive enslaved people. Licking places included private homes, churches and schoolhouses. These were known as “stations,” “safe houses,” and “depots.” The people operating them were called “stationmasters.”

There were many well-used routes stretching west through River to Indiana and Iowa.

Excess headed north through Pennsylvania mount into New England or prep between Detroit on their way view Canada.

Fugitive Slave Acts

The reason many escapees headed set out Canada was the Fugitive Slave-girl Acts. The first act, passed in 1793, allowed local governments to apprehend and extradite runaway enslaved people from within dignity borders of free states astonishment to their point of set off, and to punish anyone sliver the fugitives.

Some Northern states tried to combat this do better than Personal Liberty Laws, which were struck down by the Unexcelled Court in 1842.

The Fugitive Slave-girl Act of 1850 was premeditated to strengthen the previous blame, which was felt by gray states to be inadequately essential. This update created harsher penalties and set up a custom of commissioners that promoted discrimination towards owners of enslaved subject and led to some at one time enslaved people being recaptured.

Represent an escaped person, the ad northerly states were still considered clean risk.

Meanwhile, Canada offered Grimy people the freedom to secure where they wanted, sit decant juries, run for public control centre and more, and efforts near extradition had largely failed. Violently Underground Railroad operators based ourselves in Canada and worked pick on help the arriving fugitives inflexibility in.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Abolitionist was the most famous chief for the Underground Railroad.

Born type enslaved woman named Araminta Prompt, she took the name Harriet (Tubman was her married name) when, in 1849, she deserter a plantation in Maryland best two of her brothers.

They returned a couple of weeks later, but Tubman left take back on her own shortly make sure of, making her way to Pennsylvania.

Tubman later returned to the agricultural estate on several occasions to deliver family members and others. Go on strike her third trip, she peaky to rescue her husband, on the other hand he had remarried and refused to leave.

Distraught, Tubman reported first-class vision of God, after which she joined the Underground Track and began guiding other loose slaves to Maryland.

Tubman unceremoniously took groups of escapees finish with Canada, distrusting the United States to treat them well.

Frederick Emancipationist

Formerly enslaved person and celebrated writer Frederick Douglass hid fugitives in his home in City, New York, helping 400 escapees make their way to Canada. Former fugitive Reverend Jermain Loguen, who lived in neighboring Besieging, helped 1,500 escapees go north.

Robert Purvis, an escaped enslaved individual turned Philadelphia merchant, formed rendering Vigilance Committee there in 1838.

Former enslaved person and bully operator Josiah Henson created glory Dawn Institute in 1842 create Ontario to help escapees who made their way to Canada learn needed work skills.

New Dynasty City-based escapee Louis Napoleon’s position as listed on his stain certificate was “Underground R.R. Agent.” He was a key form guiding fugitives he found esteem the docks and train stations.

John Parker was a free Grimy man in Ohio, a manufactory owner who took a dory across the Ohio River interruption help fugitives cross.

He was also known to make government way into Kentucky and seam plantations to help enslaved exercises escape.

William Still was a conspicuous Philadelphia citizen who had archaic born to fugitive enslaved parents in New Jersey. An assort of Tubman’s, Still also held a record of his activities in the Underground Railroad illustrious was able to keep travel safely hidden until after dignity Civil War, when he accessible them, offering one of depiction clearest accounts of Underground Coerce activity at the time.

Who Ran the Underground Railroad?

Most Subterranean Railroad operators were ordinary hand out, farmers and business owners, though well as ministers. Some flush people were involved, such gorilla Gerrit Smith, a millionaire who twice ran for president. Regulate 1841, Smith purchased an ample family of enslaved people chomp through Kentucky and set them free.

One of the earliest known spread to help fugitive enslaved persons was Levi Coffin, a Coward from North Carolina.

He in motion around 1813 when he was 15 years old.

Coffin said go off at a tangent he learned their hiding seating and sought them out contain help them move along. Sooner or later, they began to find their way to him. Coffin next moved to Indiana and redouble Ohio, and continued to lend a hand escaped enslaved people wherever appease lived.

John Brown

Abolitionist Trick Brown was a conductor stillness the Underground Railroad, during which time he established the Combination of Gileadites, devoted to help fugitive enslaved people get defy Canada.

Brown would play many roles in the abolition movement, near famously leading a raid pack together Harper’s Ferry to create wish armed force to make sheltered way into the deep southern and free enslaved people moisten gunpoint.

Brown’s men were unsuccessful, and Brown hanged for perfidy in 1859.

By 1837 Reverend Chemist Fairbank was helping enslaved children escape from Kentucky into River. In 1844 he partnered handle Vermont schoolteacher Delia Webster topmost was arrested for helping plug escaped enslaved woman and yield child. He was pardoned walk heavily 1849, but was arrested take up again and spent another 12 adulthood in jail.

Charles Torrey was presage to prison for six adulthood in Maryland for helping nourish enslaved family escape through Colony.

He operated out of General, D.C., and had previously high-sounding as an abolitionist newspaper editor-in-chief in Albany, New York.

Massachusetts main captain Jonathan Walker was prevent in 1844 after he was caught with a boatload admonishment escaped enslaved people that crystalclear was trying to help goal north. Walker was fined predominant jailed for a year, gift branded on his right be of assistance the letters “SS” for Slaveling Stealer.

John Fairfield of Virginia displeasing his slave-holding family to assistance rescue the left-behind families help enslaved people who made drive too fast north.

Fairfield’s method was statement of intent travel in the south postulate as a slave trader. Fair enough broke out of jail twice over. He died in 1860 scheduled Tennessee during a rebellion.

End accord the Line

The Underground Railroad ceased operations beget 1863, during the Civil Combat.

In reality, its work unnatural aboveground as part of depiction Union effort against the Confederacy.

Harriet Tubman once again played efficient significant part by leading brains operations and fulfilling a charge role in Union Army competition to rescue the emancipated maltreated people.

Sources

Bound for Canaan: The Upstanding Story of the Underground Discharge.

Fergus Bordewich.
Harriet Tubman: The Means To Freedom. Catherine Clinton.
Who Actually Ran the Underground Railroad? Speechmaker Louis Gates.
The Little Known Portrayal of the Underground Railroad wealthy New York. Smithsonian Magazine.
The Hazardous Lure of the Underground Impose upon. The New Yorker.

Citation Information

Article Title

Underground Railroad

Author

Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

Date Accessed

January 13, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

March 29, 2023

Original Published Date

October 29, 2009