They often gave them money before sending them to the next transfer point. Safe houses were operated by “station masters.” They took fugitives into their home and provided meals, a change of clothing, and a place to rest and hide.

Temporary refuge could sometimes be identified by lit candles in windows or by strategically placed lanterns in the front yard. Stations were located in various cities and towns, known as “terminals.” These places of Passengers were delivered to “stations” or “depots,” which were safe houses. The terms “passengers,” “cargo,” “package” and “freight” referred to escaped slaves. One of the most famous conductors was Harriet Tubman. Those who helped escaping slaves in their journey were called “conductors.” They guided fugitivesĪlong points of the Underground Railroad, using various modes of transportation over land or by water. This also helped to keep the public and slaveholders in the dark. Railroad terminology and symbols were used to mask the covert activities of the network. Methodists, Baptists, inhabitants of urban centre and farmers, men and women, Americans and Canadians. Their ranks included free Black people, fellow enslaved persons, White and Indigenous sympathizers, Quakers, The network was maintained by abolitionists who were committed to human rights and equality. It was a complex, clandestine network of people and safe houses that helped personsĮnslaved in Southern plantations reach freedom in the North. The Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad and it did not run on railway tracks. By then, an informal covert network to help fugitive slaves had already taken shape. Within a few decades, it had grown into a well-organized and dynamic network. The Underground Railroad was created in the early 19th century by a group of abolitionists based mainly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It empowered slaveĬatchers to pursue fugitives in Northern states. ( See The Coloured Corps: Black Canadians and the War of 1812.)Īrrivals of freedom-seekers in Upper Canada increased dramatically after 1850 with the passage of the American Fugitive Slave Act. That there were free “Black men in red coats” in British North America. The enslaved servants of US military officers from the South brought back word Word that freedom could be had in Canada spread further following the War of 1812. This encouraged a small number of enslaved African Americans in search of freedom to enter Canada, primarily without Who reached Upper Canada became free upon arrival. A provision in the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery stated that any enslaved person

Survivors the quest underground