The Underground Railroad

The Passengers

Slaves often used code words to communicate with each other. A “station” was a safe house for hiding. A station was owned by a “station master.” A “conductor” was someone who would lead the “passengers,” or runaway slaves, from station to station. Slaves would find out about the Underground Railroad in different ways. Sometimes they heard it from a former slave who escaped previously, but has returned to help others get to freedom. Sometimes they heard it from other slaves. Perhaps a blacksmith would pound out a secret code indicating when it was safe to go, or they heard the slaves singing specific songs in the fields. They always had to communicate in secret.

Slaves would choose to run away for different reasons. Sometimes slaves chose to leave because they couldn’t stand life on the plantation anymore. Other times it was when they feared they would be sold or their family would be separated. When they decided to run away, they’d wait until dark. The slaves may try to take some food and water, but if they couldn’t, they’d leave with what they had on their back.

At the beginning, the passengers were almost always men. Women and girls disguised themselves as men and boys because it was dangerous for women and girls to flee on their own.

Runaways would often travel fifteen miles per night. They had no compass or map to guide them, so the runaways used the North Star to guide them in the right direction, or they’d feel for moss on the forest trees, which almost always grows on the North side. There were no written records of the paths runaways used, but somehow they figured out which way to go by word of mouth.

Some slaves escaped South to Florida, since it was not part of the United States until 1845. Some slaves lived with the Seminole Indians, while others joined secret communities in the woods or swamps. Some slaves ran away to Mexico. But most went North to the free states or to Canada. The slaves crossed swamps, rivers, forests, fields, and mountains, all while tired, hungry, and filthy.

A few slaves came up with creative ways to escape. Henry Brown, from Virginia, hired a free black man to build a box for him. The box was only 3 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2.5 feet deep. He drilled a single air hole into the box, and Brown was nailed inside. Then, a white abolitionist named Samuel Alexander Smith took the box to a shipping company, where Brown was shipped by train, steamboat, ferry, and wagon for twenty-seven hours. Eventually, it arrived at the Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From then on, he was known as Henry “Box” Brown. Later, Smith was thrown in jail for assisting slaves escape.

Caroline Quarlls was sixteen years old when she decided to leave Missouri after their mistress cut off her long, dark hair. Because she was light skinned, she boarded a ship headed to Illinois and told them she was going to school. They believed that she was a white person! After docking in Illinois, she continued on to freedom. All the while, her master knew she had escaped and was actively searching for her. Caroline hid in safe houses, farms, and a wooden barrel. She made it through Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan before eventually reaching Canada.

But many slaves that tried to escape did not make it. Some got sick and couldn’t finish. Others gave up. And some were captured. After masters discovered slaves who’d escaped, they’d put out signs and posters, and put out a large reward for the slaves’ recapture. Those who were caught would be taken back to their master and harshly punished. The slaves would often be whipped, beaten, or branded. Some were forced to wear iron collars with bells around their necks. Still, many slaves continued to try to escape again and again, determined to reach freedom.

Escape!

The night Momma and Addy escape, they wait until there’s a full moon shining. They run from shadow to shadow, deeper into the woods. Owls screech. Bats swoop. Momma uses Addy’s hand to pull her along.

At one point, Addy sees a bush move ahead, and she screams. Momma grabs Addy roughly and covers Addy’s mouth. Screams put them in danger. They made the difficult decision to leave Esther behind because she could cry and give them away. Addy’s quiet now.

They travel through swamps, water up to their knees, the water dragging their feet through the muck. They crawl through pickle vines. Addy stubs her toe on a rock and falls down. But this time, she does not scream or yelp.