Examines the events and key figures behind the formation and operation of the Underground Railroad, the secretive and illegal organization that helped American slaves escape to freedom in the northern United States and Canada.

When the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was passed by Congress, the flight to freedom for runaway slaves became even more dangerous. Even the free cities of Boston and Philadelphia were no longer safe, and abolitionists who despised slavery had to turn in fugitives. But the Underground Railroad, a secret and loosely organized network of people and safe houses that led slaves to freedom, only grew stronger. Since the late 1700s, blacks and whites had banded together to aid runaways like Maryland slave Frederick Douglass, who disguised himself as a sailor to board a train to New York. Virginia slave Henry Brown packed himself in a box to get to Philadelphia. The minister John Rankin, who hung a lantern to guide runaways to his house by the Ohio River, endured beatings for speaking against slavery. Quaker storeowner Thomas Garrett was put on trial for helping fugitives in Delaware. Meanwhile, the nation marched on toward Civil War. At its height, between 1810 and 1850, these secret routes and safe houses were used by an estimated 30,000 people escaping enslavement. In The Underground Railroad: The Journey to Freedom, read how this secret system worked in the days leading up to the Civil War and the pivotal role it played in the abolitionist movement.

Provides a look at the network known as the Underground Railroad - that mysterious "system" of individuals and organizations that helped slaves escape the American South to freedom during the years before the Civil War. This work also explores the people, places, writings, laws, and organizations that made this network possible.

From a "conductor" who assisted runaway slaves in their flight to freedom, here is a collection of letters, newspaper articles, and firsthand accounts about refugees' narrow escapes and deadly struggles. Over 50 illustrations.

Over the past two decades or more, America has witnessed a healthy renewal of interest of the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad is a story of suffering, bravery, secret codes, heroic deeds, treachery and lofty ideas. It is a story about the best and the worst of human kind. Disconnected and daring escapees hoped that the North Star would guide them to stations on the burgeoning Underground Railroad; which by the early 1830's still did not have a name. The word spread from plantation to plantation, city to city, town to town; first in whispers and then out right talk, there was a railroad to freedom. Invisible though it may have been, the Underground Railroad had numerous agents, conductors and stations throughout the secret freedom network. Slave owners of course, looked upon the Underground Railroad as organized theft. Under the constitution of the United States slavery was lawful and slaves were property. Although assisting escapees along the freedom network meant breaking the law. Yet, people like Harriet Tubman, the most famous conductor did so eagerly. The Underground Railroad remained active until the end of the Civil war.

In the 1800s, the Underground Railroad was a system of secret routes and safe places to hide for black slaves trying to escape to freedom. This astonishing book details the evidence that led up to the acceptance of slavery as well as the rejection of it. Readers will discover that when faced with evidence of the plight of slaves, such as slave auction posters, engravings, photographs, and interviews, white people had varying views depending on whether they benefited from slavery themselves. Readers will learn how prejudice and circumstances at the time of an event can influence people's interpretation of evidence and how that perspective can change over time. They will also learn how to use critical thinking in their own examinations of evidence. Present-day examples show how history repeats itself when evidence is denied or interpreted to one side's benefit. Teacher's guide available.