Underground Railroad

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The Underground railroad was made in 1780 and used till 1862. The Underground railroad consisted of a system of secret railroads that enabled run away slaves to escape to the north where they would be free.  These systems of underground railroads was a secret passage to freedom to those in slaved in the South. Though getting to these underground railroads were anything but easy. The first step for a slave to have the opportunity to go travel on this railroad, they first had to escape from their slave mater and go to a slaveholder. Slaveholders provided hospitality to runaway slaves as they journeyed to the underground railroad. From the slaveholders they would be brought to another slaveholder, or helper that is anywhere from 10 to 20 miles apart. This was a very difficult and life threatening trip. These slaves had to move a night in hope that they will have a lesser chance of being caught. As they moved form slaveholders to slaveholder they would be making their trip closer and closer to the underground railroad. Each trip brought them closer and closer to their freedom.

Risking Their Lives to Help 

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Those who were either slaveholders, working the underground railroads or the run away slaves, they were putting their lives on the line. This was a very dangerous journey that was taken in order to get freedom. Some people in particular that had greatly impacted this journey and helped many slaves achieve freedom was John Fairfield, the son of a slave holding family, Levi Coffin, who assisted more than 3,000 slaves, and Harriet Tubman, who made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom. In all, this secret railroad freed around 100,000 slaves in the south.  

Resources: 
"Underground Railroad Webquest." Mt. Carmel School. Web. 14 May 2011. <http://www.tntwebs.com/ugrr.html>.
Photograph. Harriet Tubman & The Underground Railroad. Terry Hongell. Web. 14 May 2011. <http://www.pocanticohills.org/tubman/urmap.gif>.
Escapeslavery. Photograph. Underground Railroad Webquest. Web. 14 May 2011. <http://www.tntwebs.com/escapeslavery.jpg>.