The Underground Railroad will always be a vital part of American history. The railroad was a system run by abolitionists for the freeing of runaway slaves. Spanning from the late 18th century until the American Civil War, the system saved thousands of slaves and forced change in the U.S.
Quakers are believed to be some of the first organized groups to run a system like the Underground Railroad. In fact, George Washington once said a quaker tried to “liberate” one of his slaves in 1786.
In the 1800s, a Quaker abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper designed a network in Philadelphia that helped runaways. During this same time, North Carolina Quakers were laying the groundwork for routes and shelters, according to History.com.
The actual term Underground Railroad first appeared in a Washington newspaper in 1839 after a slave named Jim was tortured until he confessed his plans of running away using the railroad. By the mid-1840s, the term became very well known around the country.
Staying with the railroad theme, those who transported runaway slaves to their destinations were called conductors. Furthermore, the locations that the slaves reached were labeled as “stations,” “depots,” and “safe houses.” These places were typically schoolhouses, private homes, or churches run by people called “stationmasters”.
Many notorious routes stretched through Pennsylvania and into New England, heading toward Canada. Others would go through Ohio on the way to Iowa and Indiana.
Notable abolitionists who were apart of the Underground Railroad include John Brown, William Still, Thomas Garrett, Levi Coffin, and the very famous Harriet Tubman.
It is safe to say that without the Underground Railroad, our advances and eventual end of slavery may not have happened as quickly. With things like the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, the fight only became more apparent and voices became much louder for the end of such a horrifying act. The fight was on and it wouldn’t end until change was made.
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