Week 13 of 32 • Page 4 UNIT: EXPANSION AND CONFLICT IN THE UNITED STATES

Name ________________________________________
Abolition WEEK 13

Signals, Codes and Clues of

the Underground Railroad
I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad BEGINNINGS TO PRESENT
for eight years, and I can say what most conductors
can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I
never lost a passenger.
— Harriet Tubman at a suffrage convention,

Escaping from enslavement

New York, 1896

delivered to market. The railroad

WHO WERE ABOLITIONISTS?
There were many people in America who Other abolitionists were African Americans
using the Underground Railroad linked to areas of the country that opposed the enslavement of people. Most of the who had escaped slavery. People like Sojourner
was dangerous. The lives of the men, were formerly remote. The railroad northern states had abolished, or legally ended, Truth, Frederick Douglass, and William Wells
women, and children running to helped people connect and prosper. slavery by the early 1800s. However, slavery Brown gave speeches to large audiences about
freedom were at stake. To keep all Everyone was learning about the remained legal in all of the southern states. their lives and experiences. This endangered
participants safe, a secret code railroad. The abolitionists chose
There were many people who opposed them because they were exposing their status
was used. railroad terms as code for the fugitive
abolition. They believed people from Africa as runaways. They could have been captured
The railroad was a new mode of (escaping) people. The following is a
transportation in 1830. The railroad list of terms used by members of the were not equal to people from Europe. They and returned to their former lives. Douglass
changed the way goods were Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman believed in keeping people enslaved. The pro- and Brown, along with other escaped enslaved
slavery group had authority in making laws. people, wrote in newspapers and books to Frederick Douglass
Using the table, decode the following sentences to see what messages are being conveyed. Laws were made and enforced to keep African reach more people. The opposition to their
people enslaved. work was often violent. People smashed their
1. Passengers will be arriving at the station. Conductors will exchange baggage for the operator at the next station. A religious group in Pennsylvania was very printing presses and burned their books.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
active in protesting the laws that kept slavery The Free Soil political party did not believe
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
legal. The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in freeing enslaved people. However, they did
was this group. They believe in peace and believe that any new territory or state should
2. Shareholders will be glad for successful agents and operators who deliver satisfied passengers. equality of all people. The Quakers worked to be a free state with no legal slavery. The Free
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ end slavery and free all people. This was called Soil members were elected to Congress. These
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ abolition. They even petitioned Congress to end members helped make compromises and
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ slavery in 1790. One Quaker minister, Lucretia negotiated new laws in Washington, D.C., to
Mott, began to boycott items produced by the end the growth of slavery. However, laws still
3. Notify station master of delayed arrival. The station should be prepared for a large baggage transfer. labor of enslaved people. She also worked to set made enslavement legal.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ up anti-slavery societies. Many women worked When people disobey a law, there are William Wells Brown
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ to gain rights for all people, including women. consequences. Knowingly going against a
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia became home to the law in protest is called civil disobedience.
abolitionist movement. People organized The abolitionist movement practiced civil
4. Preachers are telling shareholders that Moses will be delivering to the promised land.
and raised awareness of abolition with print, disobedience. Breaking the law can have
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
speeches, and actions. dangerous consequences. Law-abiding people
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ William Lloyd Garrison started an anti- willingly broke the law to help enslaved men,
slavery newspaper called The Liberator. He women, and children to escape to freedom.
5. The Freedom Train will use the drinking gourd. No operator is available. published his beliefs about equality. He wanted
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ African Americans to be granted every liberty
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ and right promised to white Americans. In over
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 years, he never missed printing a weekly
issue. He also helped organize the Anti-Slavery
RAILROAD CODE WORD MEANING
Society. He became a strong spokesperson
Sojourner Truth
for abolition.
agent coordinator who made contacts with members along the escape route
baggage fugitive enslaved people on the Underground Railroad
branch person or organization that assisted the Underground Railroad
conductor person who directly guided fugitive enslaved people
drinking gourd Big Dipper constellation and Polaris, the North Star
Freedom Train the Underground Railroad
Moses Harriet Tubman
operator person who guided or assisted escaping enslaved people either as a conductor or agent
William Lloyd Garrison
passengers escaping enslaved people
preachers leaders and spokespersons for the Underground Railroad
promised land Canada
shareholder person who donated money, food, and clothing to assist escaping enslaved people on the
Underground Railroad
station safehouse, a stop on the journey that was safe
station master owner or keeper of a safehouse
The Anti-Slavery Society Convention,
by Benjamin Haydon, 1840 The Liberator
 Week 13 of 32 • Page 3

Harriet Tubman
Araminta Harriet
Ross was born into
slavery in Bucktown,
Maryland, in 1820.
When she was a child,
she was “hired out”
to people. The people
paid her owner for
her work. She worked
for several very cruel
people, who injured
her. These injuries
would bother her for
the rest of her life.
In 1844, she was
allowed to marry a
free man named John
Harriet Tubman
Tubman. In 1849,
The Underground Railroad, by Charles T Webber, 1893 when her owner died,
she knew it was her chance for freedom. She ran
north. She had no plan, and the journey was terrifying
and difficult. She used different stations on the
The Underground Railroad Underground Railroad. She had no conductor between
stations. She traveled alone and made the 90-mile
When a person was enslaved for life, enslaved person escape was against journey to Philadelphia. Harriet Tubman said about
the only way for them to gain freedom the law. Consequences for helping an realizing she was in Philadelphia: “When I found I
was to escape. In the North, states enslaved person escape were severe. It wasn’t a real railroad, but the had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if
made owning another person illegal. Many slave owners would come after words were used as code. This code I was the same person. There was such a glory over
To an enslaved person, the trip to the their “property.” They would torment was meant to fool anybody searching everything; the sun came like gold through the trees,
North could be 10 miles or 110 miles. people they thought were helping the for a runaway. and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven.”
They had never seen a map. They only runaways. Farms were burned, people The passengers were met in secret by In Philadelphia, she met a man named William
knew “north” meant freedom. Staying were injured, and some were arrested. a conductor. The conductor would guide Still. He was a clerk and janitor for the Pennsylvania
put offered no freedom. Getting caught These consequences did not stop them to the stations. They were given Society for the Abolition of Slavery. He introduced
as a runaway meant severe punishment the abolitionists. food, clothing, and supplies for the next her to many people connected to the Underground
or death. The punishment was meant to A system of secret codes, paths, and part of the trip. The passengers traveled Railroad. Tubman didn’t stay in the safety of
scare other enslaved people by showing hideaways was created. The paths or at night. They traveled quietly and as Philadelphia for long. She became a conductor on the
them what would happen if they ran tracks would be hidden from the public quickly as they could. Underground Railroad.
away. It was also meant to stop them eye. There would be people to act as There were many routes on the Tubman made 19 daring trips along the
from thinking of freedom. guides on the tracks, like a conductor on Underground Railroad. The routes Underground Railroad and helped about 70
To make the trip north, a runaway a railroad. There would be places to rest went to many different cities in the people escape from slavery. She was called “Moses”
by many for leading people to freedom. She was
needed help. They needed people along the way, like railroad stations. The north and eventually to Canada.
feared and hated by enslavers and revered or
to guide, hide, and feed them. escaping people were the passengers. Enslaved people risked their lives to be
John Brown House respected by abolitionists and freedom seekers. They
Abolitionists knew how to help, even In this way, the Underground Railroad free. Many kind and brave people helped
in Chambersburg, couldn’t believe “Moses” was a woman. She was
though they knew that helping an was created and operated. them reach freedom. PA, a hideout in the one of the most successful “conductors” along the
Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin William Still, Record Keeper Monrovia, Liberia

Harriet Beecher Stowe was from Maine. In 1852, she wrote a best- We know more about the secret Underground Railroad thanks
selling book. Booksellers couldn’t keep Stowe’s book in stock. to William Still. Still was a janitor and clerk for the Pennsylvania
Everyone was reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Society for the Abolition of Slavery. He lived in Philadelphia.
The book tells the story of an enslaved man, Tom. Tom is sold He met people who successfully escaped slavery on the
to many different owners and is Underground Railroad and encouraged them to change their
names. Then he wrote their names in a book. Changing their
separated from his family. Tom
names had two purposes. First, it would signal their new life
treats others kindly but is treated
as a free person. Second, it would help hide them from anyone
cruelly by his last owner, wanting to take them back to slavery.
Simon Legree. When asked how the Underground Railroad was successful,
It was the first popular book Still replied, "'How?'
about a person who was enslaved. I answer, 'through An American ship off Monrovia, Liberia, in 1842
Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped change extraordinary determination An anti-slavery group called the American Colonization Society (ACS)
what people thought about slavery. and endeavor,' such as are was formed in 1816. The ACS wanted to abolish slavery and then
They became supporters of abolition. demonstrated in hundreds move the newly freed people back to Africa.
The talk of abolishing slavery of cases in the pages of this The African American community did not agree with moving to
increased. The book opened many book, in the struggles of Africa. Many of the people who were enslaved had been in America
men and women to obtain for generations. They didn't know anyone or anything in Africa to
eyes to the reality of people who return to.
were enslaved. their freedom, education,
and property. These facts In the 1820s, ACS bought land on the west coast of Africa that
More than 300,000 copies were is now called Liberia. Many African Americans who had been born
must never be lost sight
sold in the first year. The novel free emigrated to Liberia. Even though they were born free, they
of.... The pulse of the four
became an international bestseller had no legal rights in the United States. They hoped life would be
millions of slaves and their better in Africa.
and was printed in 22 different desire for freedom, were As with all colonies, the first settlers had troubles. There was
languages between 1852 and 1860. better felt through 'The disease and a lack of tools. The local people resisted American
Stowe's story brought the idea of Underground Railroad,' expansion. Even with all of these challenges, about 2,500 African
abolition to the center of the than through any Americans worked together over the next 10 years to create
Harriet Beecher Stowe Title page of Uncle Tom’s Cabin William Still
world's attention. other channel.” Monrovia, Liberia.
Week 13 of 32 • Page 4 UNIT: EXPANSION AND CONFLICT IN THE UNITED STATES

Name ________________________________________
Abolition WEEK 13

Signals, Codes and Clues of

the Underground Railroad
I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad BEGINNINGS TO PRESENT
for eight years, and I can say what most conductors
can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I
never lost a passenger.
— Harriet Tubman at a suffrage convention,

Escaping from enslavement

New York, 1896

delivered to market. The railroad

WHO WERE ABOLITIONISTS?
There were many people in America who Other abolitionists were African Americans
using the Underground Railroad linked to areas of the country that opposed the enslavement of people. Most of the who had escaped slavery. People like Sojourner
was dangerous. The lives of the men, were formerly remote. The railroad northern states had abolished, or legally ended, Truth, Frederick Douglass, and William Wells
women, and children running to helped people connect and prosper. slavery by the early 1800s. However, slavery Brown gave speeches to large audiences about
freedom were at stake. To keep all Everyone was learning about the remained legal in all of the southern states. their lives and experiences. This endangered
participants safe, a secret code railroad. The abolitionists chose
There were many people who opposed them because they were exposing their status
was used. railroad terms as code for the fugitive
abolition. They believed people from Africa as runaways. They could have been captured
The railroad was a new mode of (escaping) people. The following is a
transportation in 1830. The railroad list of terms used by members of the were not equal to people from Europe. They and returned to their former lives. Douglass
changed the way goods were Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman believed in keeping people enslaved. The pro- and Brown, along with other escaped enslaved
slavery group had authority in making laws. people, wrote in newspapers and books to Frederick Douglass
Using the table, decode the following sentences to see what messages are being conveyed. Laws were made and enforced to keep African reach more people. The opposition to their
people enslaved. work was often violent. People smashed their
1. Passengers will be arriving at the station. Conductors will exchange baggage for the operator at the next station. A religious group in Pennsylvania was very printing presses and burned their books.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
active in protesting the laws that kept slavery The Free Soil political party did not believe
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
legal. The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in freeing enslaved people. However, they did
was this group. They believe in peace and believe that any new territory or state should
2. Shareholders will be glad for successful agents and operators who deliver satisfied passengers. equality of all people. The Quakers worked to be a free state with no legal slavery. The Free
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ end slavery and free all people. This was called Soil members were elected to Congress. These
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ abolition. They even petitioned Congress to end members helped make compromises and
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ slavery in 1790. One Quaker minister, Lucretia negotiated new laws in Washington, D.C., to
Mott, began to boycott items produced by the end the growth of slavery. However, laws still
3. Notify station master of delayed arrival. The station should be prepared for a large baggage transfer. labor of enslaved people. She also worked to set made enslavement legal.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ up anti-slavery societies. Many women worked When people disobey a law, there are William Wells Brown
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ to gain rights for all people, including women. consequences. Knowingly going against a
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia became home to the law in protest is called civil disobedience.
abolitionist movement. People organized The abolitionist movement practiced civil
4. Preachers are telling shareholders that Moses will be delivering to the promised land.
and raised awareness of abolition with print, disobedience. Breaking the law can have
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
speeches, and actions. dangerous consequences. Law-abiding people
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ William Lloyd Garrison started an anti- willingly broke the law to help enslaved men,
slavery newspaper called The Liberator. He women, and children to escape to freedom.
5. The Freedom Train will use the drinking gourd. No operator is available. published his beliefs about equality. He wanted
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ African Americans to be granted every liberty
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ and right promised to white Americans. In over
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 years, he never missed printing a weekly
issue. He also helped organize the Anti-Slavery
RAILROAD CODE WORD MEANING
Society. He became a strong spokesperson
Sojourner Truth
for abolition.
agent coordinator who made contacts with members along the escape route
baggage fugitive enslaved people on the Underground Railroad
branch person or organization that assisted the Underground Railroad
conductor person who directly guided fugitive enslaved people
drinking gourd Big Dipper constellation and Polaris, the North Star
Freedom Train the Underground Railroad
Moses Harriet Tubman
operator person who guided or assisted escaping enslaved people either as a conductor or agent
William Lloyd Garrison
passengers escaping enslaved people
preachers leaders and spokespersons for the Underground Railroad
promised land Canada
shareholder person who donated money, food, and clothing to assist escaping enslaved people on the
Underground Railroad
station safehouse, a stop on the journey that was safe
station master owner or keeper of a safehouse
The Anti-Slavery Society Convention,
by Benjamin Haydon, 1840 The Liberator