The underground railroad

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

• AMERICANA PROGRAM 2010
• Doha, Qatar

• What railroad had passengers, conductors, stations, and station masters, but no train cars or rails??????

The Underground Railroad!

• Was it underground?
• Did it have cars?
• Did it run on train tracks?

What was the Underground Railroad?

• A network of people who helped slaves from the southern United States escape to the free northern US and to Canada between 1810 and 1865 (Civil War).

• Scenes from slavery

Traveling on the UGRR

• Passengers – runaway slaves
• Conductor- a person who guided or transported the runaways to the next station.
• Station stops -(safe houses)
• Safe houses- houses where runaways could hide safely, find shelter, food , clothing and help on their way north toward freedom.
• Station master- person at the safe house who would help the escaping slaves

Signals

• A lantern on a hitching post means a safe house or station house
• Special knocks
• Quilts (basket pattern= begin gathering supplies and tools for escape)

Transportation

• On foot
• Through water (so dogs couldn’t find their scent)
• By wagon

• Henry “Box” Brown, a slave, had himself shipped from Richmond to Philadelphia in a wooden box.

How did the slaves escape to the north?

• Routes and systems (conductors, stations, and station masters) who helped slaves get to the north to freedom.
• Escaping slaves and their helpers were breaking the law so they had to stay out of sight or get caught! They went “underground,” hiding their actions. Some hid in unusual places.
• Note the secret compartment of the cupboard in this house. The top cupboard is closed and the bottom one is open to reveal a hidden room!

Hiding escaped slaves

US Map 1700’s-1800’s

What dangers did they face?

One famous African American during that time: Harriet Tubman and passengers to freedom

Who was Harriet Tubman?

• An escaped slave! Once she escaped and was free, she went back to the southern part of the US to help other slaves escape to freedom in the northern states where slavery was not allowed!

Harriet Tubman was considered the Moses of her time

The Underground Railroad(1810-1865) took place during part of the Civil War

• War of the northern states against the southern states was really caused by slavery issue

• Southern Confederate flag and the northern Union flag

During the Civil War between the northern states and southern states President Abraham Lincoln issued:

• Emancipation Proclamation

• on Jan. 1, 1863, declaring all "slaves within any State, or designated part of a State. . . then. . . in rebellion,. . . shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."

• ABRAHAM LINCOLN

When the Civil War ended, the nation remained as a Union of both north and south.

• The 13th Amendment was added to the US Constitution

References

• http://www2.lhric.org/POCANTICO/tubman/timeline2/1869.htm
• Source: The freedom-seekers: Blacks in early Canada Daniel G. Hill -- Don Mills, Ont.: Stoddart, 1992, c1981. -- vii, 242 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. -- ISBN 0773755586. -- P. 38© Public Domainnlc-1862
• http://www.nps.gov/history/nR/travel/underground/routes.htm
• http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/WAKIViewArticle.aspx?pin=xem036400a&article_id=683&chapter_id=15&chapter_title=United_States&article_title=Emancipation_Proclamation
• http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/kids.html
• http://www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/outsidesite.cgi?id=17444&external=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/j1.html&original=http://www.proteacher.com/090053.shtml&title=The Underground Railroad

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/atwar/sf_soldier.htm
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/slavery/es_underground.html#