Underground Railroad (UGRR) is a term for the network of people
and places who assisted fugitive slaves as they escaped from
slavery in the South.
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Terminology People involved with the Underground Railroad
developed their own terminology to describe participants, safe
places, and other codes that needed to be kept secret. Conductors:
People who guided slaves from place to place. Safe House or
Stations: locations where slaves would safely find protection,
food, or a place to sleep Station Masters: People who hid fugitive
slaves in their homes, barns, or churches Cargo: Slaves who were in
the safekeeping of a conductor or station master
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Underground Railroad activity did not literally take place
underground or via a railroad, nor was it an official organization
with defined structure. It was a loose network of people who
attempted to move enslaved individuals escaping from slavery to and
from safe places in a quick and largely secretive manner.
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Most widespread during the three decades prior to the Civil
War, this activity primarily took place in the regions bordering
slave states, with the Ohio River being the center of much of the
activity.
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The actual routes of the Underground Railroad were determined
chiefly by three factors: Geographical location Availability of
workers, and Political climate in North America.
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Geographical Location The first factor was geographical
location: a border state en route to Canada. The Underground
Railroad encompassed an area generally above the Ohio River in the
Midwest, along the state line of Pennsylvania in the East, and
stretching into Canada. There was heavy activity in IL, IN, OH, PA,
DE, and the New England states.
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Underground Railroad Routes
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Availability of Workers: Abolitionists and Conductors
Underground Railroad conductors were free individuals who helped
fugitive slaves traveling along the Underground Railroad.
Conductors helped runaway slaves by providing them with safe
passage to and from stations. They did this under the cover of
darkness with slave catchers hot on their heels. Many times these
stations would be located within their own homes and
businesses.
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Diverse groups of people Conductors Risked their lives Diverse
groups of people Former slaves who had escaped through the
underground railroad Different income levels Different Occupations
Different Races If caught, they could be fined, imprisoned,
branded, or hanged Served as guides
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Quakers and UGRR Abolitionists and members of various religious
groups, including Mennonites, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists,
and others participated in the Underground Railroad. The Quakers
(the Society of Friends), however, played the biggest role
throughout the United States, and a significant role locally.
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Political Climate: Dangerous Path To Freedom Traveling along
the Underground Railroad: a long a perilous journey Often on foot,
in a short amount of time. little or no food /no protection reward
posters offering payment for the capture of slaves If captured -
flogged, branded, jailed, sold back into slavery, or even
killed.
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Code Words Code words were also used to enable fugitive slaves
to find their way North. The Big Dipper/handle pointed toward the
North Star = "drinking gourd." The Ohio River = the River Jordan.
Canada = "Promised Land"
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Of necessity, both fugitive slaves and members of the
Underground Railroad learned to code and decode hidden messages, to
disguise signs and themselves to avoid capture or worse. There were
code names for towns on the routes. Cleveland = "Hope." Sandusky =
"Sunrise." Seville, Ohio = 20.
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"By Tuesday you shall receive a shipment of four large kegs of
dark ale and one small one." was a message that four adults and one
child would be arriving at the station. There were signs. A quilt
hanging on a clothesline with a house and a smoking chimney among
its designs indicated a safe house. There were signals. Each house
had its own combination of knocks. For example, (three knocks),
"Whos there?" "A friend with friends."
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Quilts As Codes It is believed that quilts were also used as a
communication tool for the Underground Railroad.
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Monkey Wrench This meant the slaves were to gather all the
tools they might need on the journey to freedom. Tools meant
something with which to build shelters, compasses for determining
directions, or tools to serve as weapons for defending
themselves
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Crossroads Once through the mountains, slaves were to travel to
the crossroads. The main cross road was Cleveland, Ohio. Any quilt
hung before this one would have given directions to Ohio.
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Flying Geese This pattern told the slaves to follow migrating
geese north towards Canada and to Freedom. The pattern was used as
directions as well as the best season for slaves to escape.
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Log Cabin This pattern was used to let the slaves know where
safe houses were. People who helped the Underground Railroad may
have identified themselves as friends to slaves on the run by
tracing this pattern in dirt as a signal. The quilt told slaves to
look for this symbol on their journey to freedom. It was also a
symbol to set up a home in a free state.
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Songs
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Follow the Drinking Gourd
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Disquises Successful disguise - inconspicuous clothes of the
Quakers: a light gray dress and a bonnet with a heavy veil. Or just
the opposite rich looking clothes. Slave catchers would be looking
for fugitives in rags.
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Hiding Places False walls were built into attics. Secret
chambers / "liberty rooms - included as floor plans. fake closets
Trapdoors hidden tunnels church belfries empty schoolhouses. The
woodpile outside might have a room in its center The bank of coal
might be hollow. One fugitive lived in a haystack for six weeks
Even funeral processions served as hiding places, with fugitives
placed in the coffins.
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Fugitive Slave Acts It is important to realize that while
conductors and fugitive slaves were participating on the
Underground Railroad, all of their actions were illegal. The
federal government had passed Fugitive Slave Acts as early as 1793
that allowed slave catchers to come north and force runaways back
into slavery. By the 1830s and 1840s, these laws were expanded in
reaction to increased Underground Railroad activity.
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With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, assisting
or helping hide fugitive slaves became a federal offense, making
all Underground Railroad activity subject to six months in prison
and a $1,000 fine. Escaping from slavery or helping someone to
escape from slavery was a very difficult and dangerous task.
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Journey to Freedom During these 30 years, it has been reported
that over 100,000 slaves made the journey via the Underground
Railroad to Freedom.
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Follow the Drinking Gourd Perhaps no song is more closely
associated with the Underground Railroad than this one. To follow
the North Star was the message embedded in this spiritual;
instructions are included in the song to follow the points of the
drinking gourd (the Big Dipper) to the brightest star, which is the
North Star.
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The first verse instructs slaves to leave in the winterWhen the
sun comes back refers to winter and spring when the altitude of the
sun at noon is higher each day. Quail, a migratory bird, spends the
winter in the South. The drinking gourd refers to the Big Dipper,
the old man means Peg Leg Joe, and the great big river refers to
the Ohio River.
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The second verse told slaves to follow the bank of the
Tombigbee River north. They were to look for dead trees marked with
the drawings of a left foot and a round mark, denoting a peg leg.
In the third verse, the hidden message instructed the slaves to
continue north over the hills when they reached the Tombigbees
headwaters. From there, they were to travel along another riverthe
Tennessee. There were several Underground Railroad routes that met
up on the Tennessee.
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Slaves were told that the Tennessee joined another river in the
songs last verse. Once they crossed that river, a guide would meet
them on the north bank and guide them on the rest of their journey
to freedom.