Underground Railroad
Antebellum escape system
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved Black Americans to escape to free states and Canada before the Civil War.
It wasn't underground or a railroad—the name used railroad terminology as code: "conductors" guided "passengers" between "stations." Harriet Tubman was its most famous conductor.
The term now appears in contexts about helping people escape oppression: an underground railroad for refugees.
Opponent of human bondage
- antislaveryOpposing human bondage
- emancipationRelease from legal bondage
- Sojourner TruthAbolitionist and suffragist orator
- QuakersPacifist Protestant denomination
Harriet Tubman · Frederick Douglass · reformers · activism · manumission · liberation · human rights · Thirteenth Amendment
Law mandating escapee return
- antebellumBefore a war's start
- Civil WarCountrymen fighting countrymen
- Emancipation ProclamationExecutive order freeing Confederate slaves
- North StarPole-aligned celestial beacon
slave narratives · plantation · reconstruction · 19th century · Canada · Ohio River · Mason-Dixon Line · border states
One fleeing authorities
- flightAerial journey by aircraft
- refugePlace of safety
- sanctuaryProtected sacred space
- exodusMass departure from somewhere
journey · deliverance · flee · runaway · disguise · freedom seeker · crossing · evasion
Open resistance to authority
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- disobedienceRefusal to follow orders
- subversionUndermining established authority
- solidarityUnity among allies
courage · resilience · determination · bravery · risk · sacrifice · persecution · conviction
One who directs musicians
- stationFixed stopping point
- safe houseSecret secure refuge
- routePath from A to B
- passageSegment of text
passenger · cargo · stationmaster · agent · depot · terminal · waystation · hiding place
Concealed from authorities
- covertIntentionally concealed
- hiddenKept out of sight
- concealmentAct of hiding something
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
disguise · stealth · coded language · signal · safe word · secret knock · false bottom · trapdoor
abolitionist
Opponent of human bondage
- antislaveryOpposing human bondage
- emancipationRelease from legal bondage
- Sojourner TruthAbolitionist and suffragist orator
Harriet Tubman · Frederick Douglass · Quakers · reformers · activism · manumission · liberation · human rights · Thirteenth Amendment · abolition movement
Fugitive Slave Act
Law mandating escapee return
- antebellumBefore a war's start
- Civil WarCountrymen fighting countrymen
- Emancipation ProclamationExecutive order freeing Confederate slaves
North Star · slave narratives · plantation · reconstruction · 19th century · Canada · Ohio River · Mason-Dixon Line · border states · free states
fugitive
One fleeing authorities
exodus · journey · deliverance · flee · runaway · disguise · freedom seeker · crossing · evasion · pursuit
defiance
Open resistance to authority
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- disobedienceRefusal to follow orders
- subversionUndermining established authority
solidarity · courage · resilience · determination · bravery · risk · sacrifice · persecution · conviction · conscience
conductor
One who directs musicians
- stationFixed stopping point
- safe houseSecret secure refuge
- routePath from A to B
passage · passenger · cargo · stationmaster · agent · depot · terminal · waystation · hiding place · secret passage
clandestine
Concealed from authorities
- covertIntentionally concealed
- hiddenKept out of sight
- concealmentAct of hiding something
subterfuge · disguise · stealth · coded language · signal · safe word · secret knock · false bottom · trapdoor · whispered
- Abolitionismabolitionists, abolitionist movement, anti-slavery, antislavery, abolitionism
- Abolitionabolitionists, Frederick Douglass, abolitionist movement, Emancipation Proclamation, antislavery
- American MovementsFreedom Riders, Sons of Liberty, Wobblies, Beat Generation, Black Power
- Chesapeake historyChesapeake Bay, watermen, blue crabs, oystering, crabbing
- Kentucky historyDaniel Boone, Henry Clay, statehood, Cumberland Gap, border state
- Slavery EscapeHarriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, runaways, fugitives, freedom seekers
Underground Railroadslave trade
Commerce in human beings
Atlantic slave trade · slavery · slave markets · slave auctions · chattel slavery
Underground RailroadFugitive Slave Act
Law mandating escapee return
slave catchers · slave patrols · fugitive slave laws · bounty hunters · Dred Scott decision
Underground RailroadMiddle Passage
Transatlantic slave trade crossing