Underground Railroad

Slaves had been running since the 1500's and their owners in the South weren't happy about losing "property". It seemed like too much money was being lost. This caused the South to pass the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. This titled slaves as property of their owners and gave permission to the owners to retrieve runaways any where in the states, even those states that were free. The North was angry about the treatment of the slaves and was not happy about owners being allowed to come into their states to take the slaves back. Finally, the North decided to do something about it. They would help the slaves escape to freedom.

By 1807 a law was passed to make it illegal to import any more slaves. Agricultural improvements came along, and with the limited number of slaves left in the states; the value of the slaves went up very quickly. Abolition Societies began to form, and along with religious groups became active in helping slaves to freedom.

The railroad didn't have a certain location but when it began to take shape tracks were laid to aide the slaves to freedom. People talked in secrecy to make safe paths for the slaves to run on. Letters were sent that had terminology or code for the slaves. A lot of the terms come from things found along railroads because real railroads at this time were the newest thing and happened to be the topic of choice for conversation. This made it all the easier for the helpers of the railroad to communicate going unnoticed. Along the tracks, there were depots, safe houses to stay, these were houses of free whites or blacks where they could hide when they weren't running. The people who owned the houses were often called conductors, the conductors often left a number of signs for the slaves to follow so they didn't go to houses that belonged to allies of the slave owners. A quilt on the clothesline depicting a house with smoke coming out of the chimney was a sign of a safe station. A white ring of bricks around the top of a houses chimney was another sign of a good hiding spot. There were knocks that slaves used when approaching a house, animal calls, and lights hung in windows. When a slave was moving to the next house along the railroad, this was called "catching the next train." There were also songs that have directions to slaves that were taught to everyone so that they might memorize the way.

The tracks for the railroad weren't exactly laid. A slave had many possible directions to run in, but the main idea was safety over quickness (the slaves often zigzagged in their paths to avoid being caught). Often in one of the many clever disguises fabricated by the people of the North willing to lend a hand, men were dressed as women, women were dressed as men, slave's clothes were exchanged for those of a rich free person of color's to confuse the true identity of the slave when seen by curious eyes. There were also some slaves that traveled the road by foot in a wagon often containing a fake bottom making a tiny space where slaves could safely journey to freedom. Some traveled on "surface lines, the actual railroads of this time. Lightly colored slaves were dressed as whites, and others were put in with the luggage.

In the end, slaves had to find a way to blend with the people of the North so that they might live their lives free. Some of the escaped fugitives met up with previously escaped friends and family and formed communities. The civil war began and others found shelter with the Union Army. The slaves soon found out that freedom did not mean freedom from work, but they were happier because they now made their own decisions. Some died from exposure, after not finding shelter from the North's frozen winter. Most slaves were not allowed to learn to read and remained illiterate, those who learned to do specific jobs in the South often took up similar jobs in the North. The need for the railroad slowly began to decrease, as the fight for abolishment grew stronger. It was no longer necessary for the railroad to exist since almost all the slaves who were going to run already had. The final motion that brought the railroad to its final stop was the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Lincoln, ending all slavery in our now free country.