What were the different jobs in the Underground Railroad?
Terminology
- Agents or Shepherds: people who helped slaves find the railroad.
- Tracks: the fixed routes by abolitionists.
- Conductors: guides along the railroad.
- Stations or Depots: hiding places along the railroad.
- Station Masters: people who hid slaves in their homes.
Did the Underground Railroad help?
According to some estimates, between 1810 and 1850, the Underground Railroad helped to guide one hundred thousand enslaved people to freedom. As the network grew, the railroad metaphor stuck. “Conductors” guided runaway enslaved people from place to place along the routes.
Why did people work on the Underground Railroad?
The people who worked for the Underground Railroad had a passion for justice and drive to end the practice of slavery—a drive so strong that they risked their lives and jeopardized their own freedom to help slaves escape from bondage and keep them safe along the route.
Who was involved in the Underground Railroad escape network?
Quaker abolitionist Levi Coffin and his wife Catherine helped more than 2,000 slaves escape to freedom. The escape network was not literally underground nor a railroad. It was figuratively “underground” in the sense of being an underground resistance. It was known as a “railroad” by way of the use of rail terminology in the code.
Who was the conductor of the Underground Railroad?
The conductors were the guides, agents helped slaves find their way to the routes of the Underground Railroad, the stations were hiding places usually homes, stationmasters were those that hid slaves in their homes, the cargo referred to escaped slaves, and stockholders were those that donated money to keep the Underground Railroad running.
Is the Underground Railroad based on a true story?
In reality, “The Underground Railroad ” was a network of abolitionists, hidden routes, and safe houses that helped enslaved African-Americans escape to freedom in the early to mid-1800s. In the novel and the series, it is an actual railroad complete with engineers, conductors, tracks, and tunnels.