Often called “agents,” these operators used their homes, churches, barns, and schoolhouses as “stations.” There, fugitives could stop and receive shelter, food, clothing, protection, and money until they were ready to move to the next station. Many were members of organized groups that helped runaways, such as the Quaker religion and the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The operators of the Underground Railroad were abolitionists, or people who opposed slavery. The phrase wasn’t something that one person decided to name the system but a term that people started using as more and more fugitives escaped through this network. “Underground” implies secrecy “railroad” refers to the way people followed certain routes-with stops along the way-to get to their destination. No one knows exactly where the term Underground Railroad came from.
Escape the underground free#
It was a network of people, both whites and free Blacks, who worked together to help runaways from slaveholding states travel to states in the North and to the country of Canada, where slavery was illegal. The Underground Railroad was not underground, and it wasn’t an actual train. How the Underground Railroad startedĪmericans had been helping enslaved people escape since the late 1700s, and by the early 1800s, the secret group of individuals and places that many fugitives relied on became known as the Underground Railroad. It became known as the Underground Railroad. As more and more people secretly offered to help, a freedom movement emerged.
Not everyone believed that slavery should be allowed and wanted to aid these fugitives, or runaways, in their escape to freedom. To be captured would mean being sent back to the plantation, where they would be whipped, beaten, or killed. Leaving behind family members, they traveled hundreds of miles across unknown lands and rivers by foot, boat, or wagon.
Many fled by themselves or in small numbers, often without food, clothes, or money. It required courage, wit, and determination. According to the law, they had no rights and were not free.Įscaping to freedom was anything but easy for an enslaved person. They had been kidnapped from their homes and were forced to work on tobacco, rice, and indigo plantations from Maryland and Virginia all the way to Georgia. A chance to think through how they may have reacted in these important times … and how they can act today as history continues to unfold around them.In 1619, the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia, one of the newly formed 13 American Colonies.An exploration of the challenges and barriers women faced in that time period, including tests to their beliefs.Period-accurate historical details that help bring history to life in a realistic and immersive way.While reading Escape on the Underground Railroad, readers 8-12 will also encounter: As the danger increases, the girls must find the courage they need to act before it is too late. In Philadelphia, her friend Sarah is drawn into the life of a seven-year-old orphaned slave, whose health and mental state has been shattered by the evils of slavery. When runaways find their way to her Virginia home, she must decide if she will play it safe or join her family to help the slaves escape. Hannah’s world is shaken when she discovers her family’s involvement with the Underground Railroad. Within this novel in Liberty Letters series, late-elementary and middle school readers can explore the fictionalized story of two girls who find themselves in the middle of world-shaping events. Filled with period-accurate information, this book brings history to life and is also perfect for classrooms or homeschool use. In this historical fiction book by former educator Nancy Lesourd, young readers can experience American history through the letters of two girls involved with the Underground Railroad: Hannah, who is shocked to discover her Virginian family is helping escaped slaves make their way North and more shocked by what she learns from an orphaned runaway, and her friend Sarah, who sees the evils of slavery firsthand when a young man is brought Philadelphia home, a slave catcher hot on his heels.
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