Heroes of the Underground Railroad

The Beginnings of Slavery in the USA

The first Black enslaved people arrived in what is now the United States in 1619. They were taken to the Jamestown Colony in Virginia, where they worked on farms and in the tobacco industry. Between 1680 and 1700, England alone transported 300,000 enslaved people to the Americas.

The lack of humanity is glaring when you examine the conditions of enslaved people during that period.

Christopher Miller, senior director at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Centre in Cincinnati, Ohio

Due to the rapid growth of the cotton industry in the Southern United States during the 1790s, some large plantation owners increased the number of people they enslaved to between 200 and 300 individuals. Many were malnourished and lacked basic clothing. The threat of malaria was constant. Enslaved people were routinely beaten, whipped, and even executed for the mildest of infractions. Life expectancy was between three and five years. 

The 1793 Fugitive Slave Act reinforced the right of an enslaver to seize and return any enslaved person who had escaped. Anyone convicted of assisting them could be fined five hundred pounds. However, this new act was not always enthusiastically enforced at the state level.

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad. Rather, it was a secret network of safe houses, hidden routes, and courageous individuals who helped enslaved African Americans escape to freedom. It was not a single organisation but a series of like-minded groups committed to helping. There were no maps or guidebooks—instead, directions were passed by word of mouth. Codes and secret signs became intrinsic to communication. A quilt hanging on a washing line might signal a safe house; the particular insertion of nails in a tree or signpost at a crossroads would show a freedom seeker which path to take.

As time went on, a language developed. In the early days of the Underground Railroad, the network was referred to as a 'line of posts' or a 'chain of friends'. But by the late 1830s, when the iron railroad was established, the Underground Railroad developed a lexicon of train-based terminology.

The people who helped enslaved individuals locate the Underground Railroad were known as 'agents', while those who guided them along the route were called 'conductors'. Freedom seekers were referred to as 'passengers' or 'cargo'. Safe houses were 'stations' overseen by 'station masters', while temporary hideouts where several people could await their onward journey were known as 'depots'. Most travelled at night, guided by the North Star, and hid in safe houses during the day. Some walked; others allowed themselves to be hidden in wooden crates and transported across state lines by carriage or steamship.

Key Figures

Countless names and tales of the Underground Railroad remain untold, but some stand out for their extraordinary contributions. Harriet Tubman, perhaps the most famous conductor, escaped from slavery herself and made 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends. Tubman's bravery earned her the nickname "Moses".

Another significant figure was William Still, a free African American in Philadelphia, who helped up to 800 fugitive slaves to freedom. His records are among the most important primary sources on the Underground Railroad.

Quakers also played a crucial role. Equality and non-violence were central to their religious beliefs. Figures like Levi Coffin, often called the “President of the Underground Railroad,” provided shelter and aid to thousands of escaping slaves.

Tensions Rise

In the mid-1800s, plantation owners began hiring slave hunters to track down (what they considered) their "property". In response, organisations called vigilance committees were formed by anti-slavery activists in the North to protect their Black populations. Tensions began to rise between the Northern and Southern states. Guns were even drawn during a meeting of Congress. In 1850, harsher penalties were introduced to dissuade people from helping enslaved people on the Underground Railroad. However, in the North, it had the opposite effect. With more and more people galvanised against the horrors of slavery, the Underground Railroad proliferated. Formerly enslaved conductors dedicated their lives to repeatedly returning to slave states, rescuing as many people as possible.

Civil War

In 1859, Underground Railroad conductor and abolitionist John Brown took radical action. He led 22 men in a raid on a US armoury in Harpers Ferry in the slave state of West Virginia. His plan was to incite a slave revolt in the South and end slavery for good. The insurrection ended with all but five of its participants either killed at the scene or later hanged, sending shockwaves across the nation. A year later, pro-abolitionist Abraham Lincoln became president. In response, seven Southern states immediately announced their cessation from the union. 

Within months, the country was plunged into a civil war that would, by its close four years later, see over a million dead. In 1861, hundreds of thousands of Northern troops headed South. By doing so, they brought about the end of the Underground Railroad.

As Northern armies marched South, fugitives poured off farms and plantations to the safety of the Union Army. Slavery began to disappear.

Fergus Bordewich, historian and author of Bound for Canaan

The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 promised the abolition of slavery. Two years later, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed. The practice of slavery in the United States of America was now outlawed.

The Underground Railroad was the first biracial political public movement in American history. It was based on white and black Americans working together, and it's remarkable just for that.

Fergus Bordewich, historian and author of Bound for Canaan