Underground Railroad Road To Freedom

Underground Railroad (UGRR) is a term for the network of people and places who assisted fugitive slaves as they escaped from slavery in the South.

Terminology People involved with the Underground Railroad developed their own terminology to describe participants, safe places, and other codes that needed to be kept secret. Conductors: People who guided slaves from place to place. Safe House or Stations: locations where slaves would safely find protection, food, or a place to sleep Station Masters: People who hid fugitive slaves in their homes, barns, or churches Cargo: Slaves who were in the safekeeping of a conductor or station master

Underground Railroad activity did not literally take place underground or via a railroad, nor was it an official organization with defined structure. It was a loose network of people who attempted to move enslaved individuals escaping from slavery to and from safe places in a quick and largely secretive manner.

Most widespread during the three decades prior to the Civil War, this activity primarily took place in the regions bordering slave states, with the Ohio River being the center of much of the activity.

The actual routes of the Underground Railroad were determined chiefly by three factors: Geographical location Availability of workers, and Political climate in North America.

Geographical Location The first factor was geographical location: a border state en route to Canada. The Underground Railroad encompassed an area generally above the Ohio River in the Midwest, along the state line of Pennsylvania in the East, and stretching into Canada. There was heavy activity in IL, IN, OH, PA, DE, and the New England states.

Underground Railroad Routes

Availability of Workers: Abolitionists and Conductors Underground Railroad conductors were free individuals who helped fugitive slaves traveling along the Underground Railroad. Conductors helped runaway slaves by providing them with safe passage to and from stations. They did this under the cover of darkness with slave catchers hot on their heels. Many times these stations would be located within their own homes and businesses.

Diverse groups of people Conductors Risked their lives Diverse groups of people Former slaves who had escaped through the underground railroad Different income levels Different Occupations Different Races If caught, they could be fined, imprisoned, branded, or hanged Served as guides

Quakers and UGRR Abolitionists and members of various religious groups, including Mennonites, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and others participated in the Underground Railroad. The Quakers (the Society of Friends), however, played the biggest role throughout the United States, and a significant role locally.

Political Climate: Dangerous Path To Freedom  Traveling along the Underground Railroad:  a long a perilous journey  Often on foot, in a short amount of time.  little or no food /no protection  reward posters offering payment for the capture of slaves  If captured - flogged, branded, jailed, sold back into slavery, or even killed.

Code Words Code words were also used to enable fugitive slaves to find their way North. The Big Dipper/handle pointed toward the North Star = "drinking gourd." The Ohio River = the River Jordan. Canada = "Promised Land"

Of necessity, both fugitive slaves and members of the Underground Railroad learned to code and decode hidden messages, to disguise signs and themselves to avoid capture or worse. There were code names for towns on the routes. Cleveland = "Hope." Sandusky = "Sunrise." Seville, Ohio = 20.

"By Tuesday you shall receive a shipment of four large kegs of dark ale and one small one." was a message that four adults and one child would be arriving at the station. There were signs. A quilt hanging on a clothesline with a house and a smoking chimney among its designs indicated a safe house. There were signals. Each house had its own combination of knocks. For example, (three knocks), "Who’s there?" "A friend with friends."

Quilts As Codes It is believed that quilts were also used as a communication tool for the Underground Railroad.

Monkey Wrench This meant the slaves were to gather all the tools they might need on the journey to freedom. Tools meant something with which to build shelters, compasses for determining directions, or tools to serve as weapons for defending themselves

Crossroads Once through the mountains, slaves were to travel to the crossroads. The main cross road was Cleveland, Ohio. Any quilt hung before this one would have given directions to Ohio.

Flying Geese This pattern told the slaves to follow migrating geese north towards Canada and to Freedom. The pattern was used as directions as well as the best season for slaves to escape.

Log Cabin This pattern was used to let the slaves know where safe houses were. People who helped the Underground Railroad may have identified themselves as friends to slaves on the run by tracing this pattern in dirt as a signal. The quilt told slaves to look for this symbol on their journey to freedom. It was also a symbol to set up a “home” in a free state.

Songs

Follow the Drinking Gourd

Disquises Successful disguise - inconspicuous clothes of the Quakers:  a light gray dress and a bonnet with a heavy veil. Or just the opposite  rich looking clothes. Slave catchers would be looking for fugitives in rags.

Hiding Places  False walls were built into attics.  Secret chambers / "liberty rooms” - included as floor plans.  fake closets  Trapdoors  hidden tunnels  church belfries  empty schoolhouses.  The woodpile outside might have a room in its center  The bank of coal might be hollow.  One fugitive lived in a haystack for six weeks  Even funeral processions served as hiding places, with fugitives placed in the coffins.

Fugitive Slave Acts It is important to realize that while conductors and fugitive slaves were participating on the Underground Railroad, all of their actions were illegal. The federal government had passed Fugitive Slave Acts as early as 1793 that allowed slave catchers to come north and force runaways back into slavery. By the 1830s and 1840s, these laws were expanded in reaction to increased Underground Railroad activity.

With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, assisting or helping hide fugitive slaves became a federal offense, making all Underground Railroad activity subject to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine. Escaping from slavery or helping someone to escape from slavery was a very difficult and dangerous task.

Journey to Freedom During these 30 years, it has been reported that over 100,000 slaves made the journey via the Underground Railroad to Freedom.

“Follow the Drinking Gourd” Perhaps no song is more closely associated with the Underground Railroad than this one. To follow the North Star was the message embedded in this spiritual; instructions are included in the song to follow the points of the drinking gourd (the Big Dipper) to the brightest star, which is the North Star.

The first verse instructs slaves to leave in the winter—“When the sun comes back” refers to winter and spring when the altitude of the sun at noon is higher each day. Quail, a migratory bird, spends the winter in the South. The “drinking gourd” refers to the Big Dipper, “the old man” means Peg Leg Joe, and “the great big river” refers to the Ohio River.

The second verse told slaves to follow the bank of the Tombigbee River north. They were to look for dead trees marked with the drawings of a left foot and a round mark, denoting a peg leg. In the third verse, the hidden message instructed the slaves to continue north over the hills when they reached the Tombigbee’s headwaters. From there, they were to travel along another river—the Tennessee. There were several Underground Railroad routes that met up on the Tennessee.

Slaves were told that the Tennessee joined another river in the song’s last verse. Once they crossed that river, a guide would meet them on the north bank and guide them on the rest of their journey to freedom.