Who Was Harriet Tubman?

She was born a slave named Araminta Ross, and later took the name, Harriet. In 1849, she escaped from Maryland where she worked in the plantation with her two brothers. She was a brave woman who was never afraid to come back to the plantation on several occasions to rescue her family members. She was the most famous conductor for the underground railroad and helped people escape to Canada.

All Aboard!

The Underground Railroad covered destinations like northern and southern US states, Mexico, and the Caribbean. In the end, Canada was the most desired place for slaves on a run as Canada was providing them with the freedom they were running after for years while living under constant fear of getting caught and going back to their owners. Though the routes were not like we have today where so many means of transport are available. All they had was hope.

Frederick Douglass, a former slave from New York, who helped 400 slaves make their way to Canada. He used to hide fugitives in his home. Reverend Jermain Loguen, from Syracuse, helped around 1500 slaves. Robert Purvis, an escaped slave from Philadelphia, who formed the Vigilance Committee in 1838. Josiah Henson, a former slave, and railroad operator who opened the Dawn Institute in 1842 in Ontario where he helped the escaped slaves to learn work skills.
Some other names are escaped slave Louis Napoleon, John Parker, and William Smith who kept the clearest accounts on Underground Railroad activity and he kept it hidden until after the Civil War.

Most of them who operated the underground railroad were ordinary people, farmers, and business owners and ministers. Even millionaire like Gerrit Smith, who ran for president twice, once purchased an entire family and set them free. One of the youngest Quaker from North Carolina, Levi Coffin started helping the slaves escape at the age of 15. He was always on run but wherever he lived he helped the slaves on run. 

Not A Real Railroad

 It was really hard for the slaves who traveled through the underground railroad. They did not have any means of transport so they would sneak out in the night and would travel by foot. They had to wait at every station before the confirmation of the second station. It was a very long journey for the slaves and the constant fear of getting caught by the officers made traveling hard because they had limited food and resources.

How Many People Escaped?

There is no official figure on how many slaves escaped because they had to live in secrecy and they were always on a constant run from one place to another. There are some unofficial estimates tell us that over 100,000 slaves escaped during the whole history of the underground railroad movement. During the Civil war around 30,000 escaped their captivity.