Underground Railroad

:This page is for the U.S. slave escape route. For railroads elsewhere built underground, see Metro and London Underground.

Routes

Although it was possible for escaped slaves to live free in many northern states, it was increasingly dangerous after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. As a result, foreign destinations such as Canada became desirable. The importation of slaves into Upper Canada had been banned in 1793 by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, and slavery had been abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833. Approximately 30,000 slaves successfully escaped to Canada. Fugitive slaves were a significant presence in the then underpopulated Canadian colonies and formed the basis of the present-day black population throughout Ontario. Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, and until 1819, Florida was under the jurisdiction of Spain.

Related Topics:
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 - Upper Canada - 1793 - Lieutenant Governor - John Graves Simcoe - British Empire - 1833 - Ontario - 1829 - 1819 - Florida - Spain

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The escapees' main destinations were southern Ontario around the Niagara Peninsula and Windsor, Ontario. A traditional spiritual reminded travellers to "Follow the Drinkin' Gourd," which was an Africanized reference to an asterism within the constellation Ursa Major that commonly was called then, as it is today, the "Big Dipper." Two stars in its bowl point to Polaris, or the North Star. Polaris is the brightest star in a nearby Ursa Minor asterism, the "Little Dipper," which pointed the way due North, to freedom.

Related Topics:
Southern Ontario - Niagara Peninsula - Windsor, Ontario - Spiritual - Follow the Drinkin' Gourd - Asterism - Ursa Major - Polaris - North Star - Ursa Minor

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::When the sun come back and the first quail calls,

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::Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,

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::For the old man's waitin' for to carry you to freedom,

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::If you follow the Drinkin' Gourd.

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::::-- from "Follow the Drinkin' Gourd," a Negro Spiritual

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Primary routes led east of the Appalachians, up through Pennsylvania and New York to the Niagara Peninsula crossing; up through Ohio and Michigan to Windsor; and south across the Rio Grande. Some routes led West to frontier territory.

Related Topics:
Ohio - Michigan - Windsor - Rio Grande

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Just to the east of the Appalachian Mountains in Maryland, many well-documented routes run through a fifty-mile funnel between Washington, DC, and west to where the Appalachians become too rugged for foot travel. At the center of the funnel is Frederick County, Maryland.

Related Topics:
Appalachian Mountains - Maryland - Washington, DC - Frederick County, Maryland

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See: List of Underground Railroad sites

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Runaways also crossed the southern border to Mexico, or escaped to islands in the Caribbean, a point often neglected by histories of northern abolitionism. The Ohio River and the Rio Grande marked the northern and southern borders of the slave states. Felix Haywood, a former slave, wrote in The Slave Narratives of Texas:

Related Topics:
Mexico - Caribbean - Ohio River - Rio Grande

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Sometimes someone would come along and try to get us to run up north and be free. We used to laugh at that. There was no reason to run up north. All we had to do was walk, but walk south, and we'd be free as soon as we crossed the Rio Grande.

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The term underground railroad, however, rarely was used in reference to these alternate escape routes.

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