What is the Underground Railroad?

US Postal Service Underground Railroad commemorative stamps that honor some of the men and women who escaped slavery and/or helped others escape.

US Postal Service

The Underground Railroad—flourished from the end of the 18^th century to the end of the Civil War, was one of the most significant expressions of the American civil rights movement during its evolution over more than three centuries.

The Underground Railroad bridged the divides of race, religion, sectional differences, and nationality; spanned State lines and international borders; and joined the American ideals of liberty and freedom expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the extraordinary actions of ordinary men and women working in common purpose to free a people.

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A United States map showing the differing routes that freedom seekers would take to reach freedom.

NPS

Wherever there were enslaved African Americans, there were people eager to escape. There was slavery in all original thirteen colonies, in Spanish California, Louisiana, and Florida; Central and South America; and on all the Caribbean islands until the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) and British abolition of slavery (1834).

The Underground Railroad started at the place of enslavement. The routes followed natural and man-made modes of transportation - rivers, canals, bays, the Atlantic Coast, ferries and river crossings, road and trails. Locations close to ports, free territories and international boundaries prompted many escapes. As research continues, new routes are discovered and will be represented on the map.

Maritime industry was an important source for spreading information, in addition to offering employment and transportation. The Pacific West Coast and possibly Alaska became destinations because of ties to the whaling industry. Military service was an additional option; thousands of African Americans joined from the Colonial Era to the Civil War to gain their freedom. During the Civil War, many freedom seekers sought protection and liberty by escaping to the lines of the Union army.To obtain autonomy of their lives for themselves and their loved ones, freedom seekers needed to strategize about which opportunity worked best for their situation.

Using ingenuity, freedom seekers drew on courage and intelligence to concoct disguises, forgeries and other strategies. Slave catchers and enslavers watched for runaways on the expected routes of escape and used the stimulus of advertised rewards and official legislation to encourage public complicity in apprehension. Support came from sympathetic individuals from various backgrounds who opposed slavery and aided freedom seekers in their quest for liberty.