KIDS

DISCOVER

NO TRAINS
NO TRACKS
NO TICKETS

NETWORKING
TO
SECRET SIGNS
HIDDEN ROOMS
CODE NAMES
FALSE BOTTOMS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

2

There were no trains to

ride on the Underground
Railroad. There were no
tickets. It wasn't a railroad
or under the ground. The
Underground Railroad was A A FAMOUS STATION moved on from
was Levi Coffin's Coffin's house.
a secret network that helped house in Newport, "They declared
runaway enslaved people Indiana. Scholars that there must be
think the railroad an Underground
from the South escape to
got its name from Railroad, of which
freedom. A network is a slave hunters I was president,"

group of connected peo- searching for 17 Coffin remem-

freedom seekers bered. The network
people of
ple. It included
who had safely had its name.
both European and African
descent (that means they
>THESE MEN (TOP)
or their relatives came are slave hunters.

from Europe or Africa). Even though slav-

ery had ended
Nobody knows exactly how in

the North, people

many people "rode" the who had escaped
Underground Railroad or weren't safe there.
The United States
how many helped them. had laws that said
We do know that they all runaways had
showed courage and took to be returned
to their owners.
risks. Step aboard to hear Slaveholders
stories of bravery, danger, offered rewards, escaped people
and the determination to so slave hunters and returning
made money them to the South.
fight for freedom. down
tracking

THE TERM
Underground
Railroad wasn't
used until the
1840s. But helping
enslaved people
escape dates 9.1, 'u

back at least to
the mid-1600s
in the United
States. Networks
to freedom prob-
ably began in the between 1830 and Railroad work- any outside help.
1780s. That's 1865. During that ers led fugitives The Underground
when the idea time, slavery was (runaways) to Railroad operated
of emancipation legal all through northern states, mostly in the
(freedom from the South. Millions where slavery was North but also in

slavery) started of enslaved people against the law. the slave states
taking hold in were forced to From there, many that lay on the
the North. The work on planta- went to Canada. border between

Underground tions there. The But most fugitives North and South.
Railroad existed Underground escaped without
UNDERGROUND RAIL- of African descent.

road members They guided

used secret names "passengers" to
and code words to "stations" or "safe

keep others from houses," which

learning about their were hiding places
work. They were in houses, church-
called "conductors" es, or schools.
or "railroad work- "Stationmasters"
ers." Most of them were the people
were free people who owned the
safe houses.
 < MOST ENSLAVED
people worked
14-hour days. SLAVERY ill SOIltll
From sunup to
sundown, field Between 1500 and 1800, the Portuguese,
workers planted, Spanish, British, and Dutch brought almost
tended, and picked
10 million enslaved Africans to the New
cotton. They had
to pick a certain World. Most of these people were taken
amount every day. from West Africa. About 500,000 were
The overseer — a
boss — watched
taken to Britain's mainland colonies, which
them work. He became the United States. In the South,
whipped anyone colonists needed workers for their planta-
he thought was
not working hard
tions (large farms where cotton and other
enough. crops were grown). European workers were
hard to find. Many Native Americans didn't
PEOPLE CAUGHT
trying to escape want to do that kind of work (and many had
from slavery were died from the Europeans' diseases). By the
whipped and
late 1600s, planters decided they needed
sometimes sold
to slave traders. the forced labor of enslaved Africans.
Enslaved people
were denied basic Free and Enslaved Population
rights. They were
in America, 1750-1780
not allowed to
become American
citizens or to vote.
They were not
entitled to fair
treatment under
the law. Many
southern states enslaved people. allowed to learn to
passed tough In many states, read or write.
laws to control they weren't even
500,000

V IN 1793, faster than by make cloth. Then

Eli Whitney invent- hand. As a result, plantations needed
ed the cotton gin. cotton, which had more workers to 1750 1760 1770 1780

This machine been expensive, keep up with the Year

Free persons
made it possible became much demand for cotton
Enslaved persons
to remove the cheaper to use. So from the factories.

seeds from cotton business owners

hundreds of times built factories to
A THIS BAR GRAPH covers the years
compares the from 1750 (when
populations of America was a
free people (both British colony) to

black and white 1780 (the early

Americans) and United States of

enslaved peo- America).

ple. The graph

WHEN SLAVEHOLDERS NEEDED MONEY, THEY

could sell some of the people they held
in slavery. They could also hire them out
to work for others. The sale or trading of
people took place at public slave markets.
Husbands, wives, parents, and children
were often separated and sold to different

buyers.
 5
Y BY THE 1790S, Congress passed
many northern the Fugitive Slave
states refused to Act of 1793. This
return runaways. law allowed slave-
Southern lawmak- holders and slave
ers wanted that to hunters to go after
change. The U.S. runaways even
in free states. It

became a crime
to help fugitives

REWARD or prevent their

capture. But in

RANAWAY from the subscriber, on some states, like

the night of the instant, n negro man,
who calls himself Olav, about 22 Vermont, strong
years ol.d, feet 6 or 8 inches high, or—
dinury eolor, rather ebunky built, bushy antislavery feelings
bead, and has it divided mostly on one
side, and keepg it very nicely combed; made it almost
has been raised {n the house, and is a arst
rate dining-room servant, and was in a impossible for A LATER, CONGRESS made life harder So slave hunters
tavern in Louisville for 18 months.
pect he Is now In Louisville trying to slaveholders to get passed a second, for all people of could just grab
make his eacape to a free Atate, (in all probuhility to Ohio.)
hu he may try toget employment on steamboat He is a good rook. nnd runaways back. even stricter law, African descent. them along with
y any capacity an a house
in Had on when Ju• len. n dnrk
auninett coatce, and dark striped mnginctt tnlrx•ng, now—hr hnd other
clothing. taken in Rsvill; 100 dollars it' taken Many runaways the Fugitive Slave Even those who fugitives. Victims
onc hundrcd miles from Lanisrille in thig Stntr, and 150 dollnrs if taken out
or this Ytate,und to me, or gecured in nn •nil so that I enn him went to Canada to Act of 1850. It set were free were had little chance
Ry., ad, 1838.
avoid being caught. heavy fines for not considered to show they had
those who helped citizens and were been falsely taken
runaways. They denied the right or mistaken for
could even go to speak in their someone else.

to jail. This law own defense.

A IN THE NORTH, industry and trade ern states had

the cold climate became important. laws against slav-
and poor soil con- Enslaved people ery, and the United
ditions were not were not needed States was divided
suited to planta- for the workforce. into free states and
tions. So the North By 1804, all north- slave states.
built factories, and

Wii

A NATIONALLY, controlled the worth at least $3

however, slav- White House, the billion. They were
ery was legally Senate, and the worth more than
protected and Supreme Court. all other money-
defended. That's In 1860, all U.S. making "goods" in

partly because enslaved people the country, except

slaveholders combined were land.
 < BORN IN MARY-
land, Harriet ELIJAH LOVEJOY
Tubman escaped published an anti-
from slavery in slavery newspaper
1849. She then in Alton, Illinois.

made 19 success- Three times, angry

ful trips back to supporters of slav-
Maryland to lead ery wrecked his
others to freedom. printing press. Each
She was called time, he bought a
Moses, after the new one. In 1837,
biblical Moses, who A CONDUCTOR JOHN he was killed trying
led the Hebrews Fairfield came to protect his fourth
out of slavery in from a wealthy press from rioters.

Egypt. Slaveholders slaveholding fam- Elijah's brother,

offered rewards ily in Virginia. But Owen Lovejoy
totaling$40,000 for he was against became a station-

her capture. She slavery. To help master in Princeton,

was fearless — and enslaved people Illinois. He built

never lost a pas- escape, he put a secret room

senger. on different dis- behind a fake wall
guises. He would in his home. Once
pretend to be a freedom seekers
slave trader, a were safely inside,

IIEROES AND HELPERS slaveholder, or a

traveling sales-
a desk covered
the opening. Other
Who were the conductors and stationmasters man. His southern houses had tunnels
and
risking their lives to help others? Some were accent helped that led outside
him fool slave- hiding places in
ordinary farmers and shopkeepers. Others were holders. Fairfield attics, cellars, and
respected ministers and merchants. Most were once sneaked 28 closets.

enslaved people
people of African descent. They were either
over the roads near
free people living in the North or formerly Cincinnati, Ohio,

enslaved people who risked getting caught by hiring a hearse

and pretending the
again when they returned south to help others
group was
escape. Enslaved people who stayed behind a funeral

also playedan important role in helping others procession.

reach freedom.
Americans to < FREDERICK DOUGLASS
speak out against was born into slavery

slavery.They in Maryland. He was

believed no person illegally taught to
should be owned read and write by the
by another. Quaker slaveholder's wife and
businessman Levi by local schoolboys.

Coffin (far left) He ran away at 21 ,

raised money for disguised as a sailor.

the Underground In the North, Douglass
Railroad and became a famous
became known writer, speaker, and
as its "president." abolitionist — someone
William Still (near who works to abolish,
left) was its his- or do away with, slav-
< A MEMBERS OF A torian. In 1872, ery. Thousands read his

religious group he published The antislavery newspaper,

called the Society Underground The North Star. His

of Friends, or one
Railroad, of the home in Rochester,
Quakers, were first records of the New York, was a stop
among the first secret network. on the railroad.
 CONDUCTOR CALVIN a specific runaway.
Fairbanks was a Women formed
minister. He dis- sewing groups
guised runaways (above) to make
instead of himself. disguises for run-
He dressed boys aways. Fairbanks
in girls' clothing spent 17 years in

and girls in boys' jail for his work on

clothing to fool slave the Underground
hunters looking for Railroad.

THINK PIECE!
Frederick

Douglass's fiery
speeches drew
huge crowds. "l

appear .. this .

evening as a thief
and a robber," he
said in one. "l stole

this head, these

limbs, this body

from my master,
and ran off with

them." What do you

think he meant? Do
you think he was
right to run away,
even though it was
against the law
to do so? Why or
why not?
ESCAPE!
Every enslaved person wanted to
be free, but few got the chance to
Taste frccdom. Runaways had little,
hope of reaching free territory.
Most escapes failed. If they got
caught, runaways were beaten,
jailed,returned to angry owners,
or sold. Slaveholders saw enslaved
people as valuable property and
watched them closely. Many
enslaved people could not leave
the plantation without written
permission from the slaveholder.
Once on the road, they could be
stopped and questioned by anyone
who saw them.
In parts of the South, enslaved
people weren't allowed to ride
trains.They couldn't cross bridges
without a special pass. Runaways
usually traveled at night, on foot,
with nothing to eat but scraps of
food they found or stole as they
went. As they walked through
swamps, they risked being bitten
by poisonous snakes. If they didn't
find food, they starved. Until they
reached the North, many lived on
fruit and corn, often unripe, taken
from farms and fields.
 A JOSIAH HENSON
was an enslaved
person who was
promised freedom
if he earned $350. A AN ENSLAVED SOME LUCKY RUN- covered the space
Henson worked person carrying aways traveled with a false floor,
hard and made food or clothing north on real trains then put straw or
the money. Then made people or stagecoaches. sacks of grain on
the slaveholder suspicious, so run- Some sneaked top of it.

raised the price aways took almost onto steamships,

to $1 ,OOO. When nothing with them. usually with help
Henson found out Many left without from the ship's
that the slavehold- blankets, bringing captain. Most
er planned to sell only the work traveled by wagon
him away from clothes they were or on foot. This
his wife and four wearing. As they wagon (right) had
children, he decid- moved north, they a false bottom.
ed to run away faced rain, snow, Runaways lay
to Canada. He and sleet. down or crouched
escaped with his on the real floor.
family in 1830. The wagon driver

V FRIGHTENED AND directions to the

tired, runaways felt next stop on the
better when they way north. Ads for
reached a safe the Underground
house. They were Railroad appeared
still in danger, but in northern cities.
SOMETIMES RUNAWAYS
they knew they This one (below),
had to cross deep could count on from 1844, pre-
or wide rivers. So some food and tends to advertise
they used boats, rest. The next day, a real railroad.
wooden rafts, and
they got clean "Seats free," it

even large logs. clothes from the says, "irrespective

Many slave hunt- stationmaster and of color. "
ersowned dogs
specially trained A HELD IN SLAVERY nailed the box shut
to hunt for run- in Virginia, Henry and mailed it to
aways. Sometimes, "Box" Brown the Pennsylvania
runaways jumped earned his nick- Anti-Slavery
intoswamps and name the hard Society. The trip
streams. That way. He had a took 26 hours.
made the dogs carpenter build a Brown spent part
lose their scent, wooden box just of that time upside
and they would be big enough to down. He made
thrown off the run-
NEW ARRANGEMENT"-NIGHT AND DAY.
sit in. Brown got it safely. Society The improved and splendid Clatksoh. Hide the outcasts—Ict
and Lund with their trains fitted u in the best styleof
, C7For goats apply at aqy Of the trap doors, Or to
accom rnoxaiinn ror passengers, wil? run thcir regular the conductor of thu train.
aways' trail.
inside, carrying members knew he trips ßgring' resent scasnn, between the border' of
Patriarchal ßominionand N. 11 For the benefit of Pro-Slavcrv Police
food and a tool for was coming and Gcntlcmen pod Ladies. Who may Wish tn improve their Olliec•rg, an extra heavy wagon for Texas, wili be Cur.
health or Circumstances, by a northern tour; urc rc2pect• nished, whcnevcr it may be necessary. iO tl•ey
full invited tn ivc us their patronage; will bc forwarded as dead freight, to the u Valley Of
making airholes in quickly opened {EATS FREE. irre, at risk Of the oWncrs.
Neccmry Clothing urni'hcd gratuitou'ly to such Ü3Extra Overcoats provided for such Of them a.
the wood. A friend the box. have "Tulle* anong aro atllicted Witb protracted chilly•pkobia.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman recalled that when she was
about to be sold, never to see her family
again, she had this thought:

I had reasoned [this] out in

my mind; there was one of
two things I had a right to,
could
liberty, or death; if I
not have one, I would have
[the other]; for no man
should !ake me alive; I should
fight fpr my _liberty as long as
my strength lasted.
12

V To REACH
< JOSIAH HENSON
was a runaway
Canada, run-
North to aways had
across or around
to go
who became a
conductor. In

1842, he set
the Great Lakes.
up the Dawn
Slave hunters
Settlement in
knew this. So
Dresden, Canada.
The Underground Railroad was not they waited in
There, formerly
one route to freedom, but many. lakeside towns
enslaved people
near Niagara
These routes were dirt trails or learned new
Falls, New York,
skills and trades
paths through woods, over fields, and Detroit,
that helped them
and across rivers and swamps. Not Michigan. They
start their new
kept a close
many runaways could swim. But they watch on ships
lives.

often looked for water crossings. sailing from

When escapees went into water, the these places. GENEVA, CASE
Western Reserve,
dogs chasing them lost the scents and Oberlin
Along these
that helped track them. are colleges in

Pennsylvania
routes were farmhouses, barns, and
and Ohio. Their
churches. There, conductors hid students and

runaways for a day or a week, until teachers helped

runaways get
they could get safely to the next safely to Canada.
station on their way to freedom.
The road to freedom went as
far north as Canada.

THINK PIECE!

Many people,
both black and
white, were
involved in two
movements in the
1800s: abolition
(the fight to end
slavery) and wom-
en's rights. Why do
you think women's
rights and African
Americans' rights
went together?
 13
MOST ESCAPEES OHIO HAD MANY IN THE STATES PENNSYLVANIA
who went to stops and safe along the North— and New York
Canada settled houses for South border State had many
in towns close to runaways. The (Maryland, Underground
the U.S. border. Ottawa people Kentucky, Railroad routes,
They still faced of Ohio were Virginia, because many
prejudice, or one of the first Missouri, and Quakers lived in
unfair treatment groups to help Delaware), slav- Pennsylvania and A ENSLAVED PEO-
because of their runaways. Many ery was legal. New York was on
ple who lived
race. But in Quakers moved But they were the border.
near the Atlantic
Canada, men of to Ohio, and close to free
Ocean could take
African descent so did many states, where
a coastal route to
could vote, serve Southerners who it was illegal.
freedom. Some
on juries, and were against More runaways
would hide on
hold public office. slavery. escaped to free-
board ships that
Families could dom from the
were going north.
live wherever border states
Sometimes
they wanted. than from any
northern boat
other area.
captains helped
ALONG THE CANA-
them.
dian side of Lake
A THE UNDER-
Erie and around
ground Railroad
Niagara Falls, may have started
Canadians set
in Guilford County,
up stations where North Carolina. A
passengers could group of Quakers
eat and rest
lived there. Some
before moving
people believe
onward.
that Vestal Coffin
and his wife,

Althea, were
among the first

to help enslaved

people escape.
Vestal was Levi
Coffin's cousin.
14

TRAVELING AT NIGHT,
conductors and
tars, Songs, and Secret Signs runaways learned
to use the North
Enslaved people planning their escape
Star as a compass.
became good at looking and listening and They first searched
not saying a word. They communicated the sky for the star
group known as
through songs. They went north without
the Big Dipper. It

using a map or compass (an instrument that helped them find

tells direction). Often they left at night. the North Star. By
always traveling
If they took off while it was dark, they
north, runaways
sometimes got many hours away before got to the free

the slaveholder knew they were gone. states. When

clouds covered the
Runaways shared secrets with the conduc-
North Star, run-
tors who helped them escape. aways sometimes
got lost.

< ON THE PLAN-

tations, enslaved
people often
sang religious
songs called
spirituals. These
songs shared
their sadness, but
also their hope
for a better life.
Sometimes mes-
sages were hidden
in the words of
the songs. Other
songs spoke about
theirneed to resist
and escape. One
such song was "Go
Down, Moses."

V WHEN ENSLAVED ery. In the song's for slaveholders slavery with the
and overseers. The help of God, like
people sang "Go lyrics (words),
"Egypt" stood for song expressed the Hebrews of
Down, Moses,"
the South and theirhope that they biblical times.
they thought of
their own slav- "pharaoh" stood would escape

When Israel was in Egypt's land, let my people go.

/ Oppressed so hard they could not stand, let my people go.

Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt's land,

Tell old pharaoh, let my people go.

 15

A THE WORDS TO THE Railroad conductor.

song "Follow the The song also says
Drinking Gourd" to stay close to
have directions for riverbanks, includ-
escape hidden in ing one along the
them. The "drink- Tombigbee River.
ing gourd" is a "Another river"

code name for the is the Tennessee

Big Dipper, and River, which meets
the "old man" is the "great big"
an Underground Ohio River.

A RUNAWAYS USED
THE N ORTHSO+
a simple trick to
fool slave hunters'

dogs: They rubbed

their bare feet or

shoes with onion

or spruce pine
branches. This
covered up their
own scent with a
different smell.

A OWNERS OF SAFE
houses made
sure the people
who came to
their doors late

at night weren't
slave hunters.
They listened for a
certain number of
knocks on a door
or window. Or they
RUNAWAYS HAD waited to hear a
another way to find password, such as
north. On a dark or "baggage," which A AT SOME STA- Ohio. Rankin
cloudy night in a meant escaping tions, homeowners and his wife,
forest, they would people. Another put a lighted Jean, and their
run their hands up secret phrase was lantern or candle neighbors hid
and down the sides "load of potatoes. " in a window. That more than 2,000
of trees. Moss That meant escap- meant was
it enslaved people
grows best on the ees were hidden safe to come to on their way to
north side of a under farm pro- the door. This freedom. As many
tree, so this helped duce in a wagon. house (above) as 12 escapees
them go in the And "bundles of was the home hid in the house
right direction. wood" meant fugi- of John Rankin, at one time.
tives were to be a Presbyterian
expected. minister in Ripley,
16

By the 1850s, Americans were sharply

divided over the issue of slavery. In the V WHEN HARRIET work to end slav-

Beecher Stowe's ery. In the North,

North, many worked to end it. Northerners book Uncle Tom's the book was a
joined abolitionist (antislavery) groups. Cabin was pub- huge success. It

lished in 1852, sold over 300,000

They gave out leaflets on the streets. They it

made thousands of copies the first

held fairs and concerts to raise money Americans want to year.

to help enslaved people escape. The

Underground Railroad and attempts by
Northerners to disobey the Fugitive Slave
DUNCLE TOMs
CABIN
Actsmade Southerners angry. By 1860,
many Southerners felt that the only way to
protect slavery and the rights of southern
states was to secede from (leave) the United

States. They planned to form a separate

country. President Abraham Lincoln said
their actions were illegal. He sent the U.S.
Army to stop them. That led to a bloody
fight between the North and the South. The
War started in 1861 and lasted four
Civil
years. When the Union (northern) Army
finally won,African Americans throughout
the United States became free.
< ALTHOUGH HARRIET
Beecher Stowe had
WASHINGTON
TERRITORY never been south of
DAKOTA TERRITORY MINNESOTA
MAINE
WISCONSIN MICHIGAN
Kentucky, she had
OREGON
NEW YORK
witnessed a slave
NEBRASKA TERRITORY IOWA auction and other
PENNSYLVANIA
INDIANA OHIO
NEVADA
UTAH ILLINOIS horrors of slavery.
TERRITORY COLORADO
TERRITORY
TERRITORY KANSAS
VIRGINIA
MASSACHUSETTS She based Uncle
MISSOURI KENTUCKY RHODE ISLAND
CALIFORNIA
NORTH
NEW HAMPSHIRE Tom's Cabin on
INDIAN TENNESSEE VERMONT
CAROLINA
TERRITORY
ARKANSAS real events in the
NEW MEXICO SOUTH CONNECTICUT
TERRITORY CAROLINE NEW JERSEY
ALABAMA lives of enslaved
GEORGIA DELAWARE
MISSISSIPPI
TEXAS MARYLAND people and fugitives
LOUISIANA
Free States she interviewed
Slave States FLORIDA
or heard about.
Open to Slavery by The book showed
Dred Sco& Decision (1857)
how horrible and
Free and Slave States, 1861 cruel slavery was.
Readers in coun-
tries around the
voted to stay with
A IN 1861, 11 Florida, Alabama,
world read it. It was
Georgia, Texas, the Union and,
southern states translated into more
left the United Louisiana, North in 1863, became
than 50 languages.
Carolina, Arkansas, the state of West
States and formed
the Confederate Virginia, and Virginia. The
States of America. Tennessee. The Confederacy was

The states were: western part of broken up in 1865,

Virginia did not after it lost the
South Carolina,
support slavery. It
Civil War.
Mississippi,
 17

WHEN THE CIVIL WAR

began, more than
200,000 enslaved
Africans ran away
from southern
plantations.
Many joined the
Union Army and
helped defeat the
Confederacy.
991)

A HARRIET TUBMAN taught them

and other formerly how to use the
enslaved people North Star as a
served as scouts, compass. They
spies, or nurses. also taught them
They gave key where to find
information to swamps, forests,
northern spies. and rivers to
They told Union hide in. In return,
spies about roads Union soldiers
and trails through fed and protected
the South. They runaways.

IN 1862,
President Abraham
Lincoln officially
freed all enslaved
people living in the
Confederate States.
This famous dec-
laration is called

the Emancipation
Proclamation.
The law officially
went into effect on
January 1, 1863.
A DURING THE CIVIL
But fighting was
War, soldiers of going on in the A THE 13TH
still
Amendment (1870)
African descent
South. So at first Amendment was said that no U.S.
helped formerly the new law could added to the U.S. citizen could be
enslaved people be enforced only Constitution in denied the right to
learn to read and places where
in 1865. It outlawed vote on account
write. After the war
"Ifslavcry is not wrono•, Union soldiers slavery in the of "race, color, or
ended, the United were in control. U.S. The 14th previous condi-
States government nothing is wrong." Amendment (1868) tion of servitude"
started schools Abrah n Lincoln. gave citizenship (slavery). At last,
to teach formerly
and civil rights to African American
enslaved people.
people of African men had the rights
Most schools had
descent, including of other male
volunteer teachers
those formerly American citizens.
from the North.
enslaved. The 15th