The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad wasn’t actually underground or a railroad. It was a hidden escape route to Canada for black slaves in United States.

Heritage Minute

Background

Remember this?

Slaves often resisted their owners by:– Performing tasks slowly– Keeping their real names– Keeping their culture– Running away

Hundreds of slaves managed to escape North to freedom every year. It infuriated their masters.

Free States

Territories not yet part of the USA

Slave States

The territories caused a dispute… would they join the union as Slave states or Free states?

Adds like these ones didn’t help slave owners much if their slaves had already reached the free states.

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Fugitive Slave Act declared that all runaway slaves be brought back to their masters. Those who were caught helping them would be prosecuted.

Abolitionists nicknamed it the "Bloodhound Law" for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.

What is an abolitionist?

An abolitionist is a person who demanded immediate emancipation of slaves.

Emancipation = Freedom

Poster warning black people in Boston about policemen acting as slave catchers

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

• Lived from 1818-1895• After escaping from

slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement

• Wrote several autobiographies describing his life as a slave and his struggles to be free

BrainPop: Frederick Douglass

The Journey

The Journey

Underground Railroad Code

People involved in the Underground Railroad used code in order to keep their actions secret and their members safe.

Underground Railroad Code

Freedom Train - code name for the Underground Railroad

Heaven or Promised Land - Canada

Agent – the coordinator or the one who plotted the course of escape and made contacts

Underground Railroad Code

Preachers - leaders/speakers of the Underground Railroad

Stockholder - donor of money, clothing, or food to the Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad Code

Shepherds or Conductors - people who escorted the slaves

Station - a safe house

Station Master - the keeper of a safe house

Underground Railroad Code

"The wind blows from the south today" - A warning that slave bounty hunters are nearby

“A friend of a friend" - A password used to signal the arrival of fugitives with an Underground Railroad conductor

A package, parcel, bundle, etc – fugitives to be expected

Underground Railroad Code

Drinking Gourd - Big Dipper and the North Star. Since slaves traveled at night, they could use the constellation as a marker to avoid getting lost.

Underground Railroad Code

Henry “Box” Brown

Henry “Box” Brown

• Lived from 1815 to 1879• A Virginia slave who escaped to freedom by

arranging to have himself mailed to Philadelphia abolitionists in a wooden crate

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman

• Lived from 1820-1913• Born a slave in Maryland• Escaped to freedom and later led more than

300 other slaves to Canada to their freedom• The best-known conductor on the

Underground Railroad• She spoke against slavery and for women's

rights.

Harriet Tubman as "Conductor" with escaped slaves at an Underground Rail Road station

Cartoon Time

Underground Railroad BrainPop