The Route
Every step seems louder.
Twigs snap, leaves
crackle. But you walk on,
till you see a group of
friendly faces. You join
them shyly and meet
“General Tubman”
herself. She tells you how
to sneak across the
bridge over the Choptank
River and where to find
friends in a place called
Delaware.
The route you traveled—
based on Harriet
Tubman’s actual journeys
—appears in map insert
(at right). Using modern
roads, the trip would be
560 miles (900
kilometers) long.
A strong, lucky runaway
might have made it to
freedom in two months.
For others, especially in
bad weather, the trek
might have lasted a year.
T R AV E L T H E
U N D E RG RO U N D
R A I L ROA D
Hawaii
Kilauea
Tours:
Guided by her
“visions,” Harriet
Tubman has never lost
a passenger. Even if
Moses can’t fit you into
her next group, she’ll
tell you how to follow
the North Star to
freedom in Canada.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION:
Students will list websites and
articles used to get the
information for the brochure.
Escape to Freedom
Basic information about what the
Underground Railroad was- how it
worked, the dangers, and why slaves
chose to escape even knowing the
dangers.
FA M O U S R A I L ROA D
Students will use this section to describe people who participated in
both the Underground Railroad and the Abolition Movement. They will
discuss what was done both to move slaves and for the movement in
general. Describing some of the most famous people in detail below.
Important Facts
The Underground Railroad was not
underground. Because escaping slaves and the
people who helped them were technically
HARRIET TUBMAN
“Moses” is coming! You’ve heard the
stories about her. She is Harriet
Tubman, a former slave who ran away
from a nearby plantation in 1849 but
returns to rescue others. Guided by her
“visions,” she has never lost a passenger.
breaking the law, they had to stay out of sight.
They went “underground” in terms of
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concealing their actions. Sometimes they even
hid in unusual places.
Many clever and creative ideas helped slaves
during their escape. When abolitionist John
Fairfield needed to sneak 28 slaves over the
FREDERIC DOUGLAS 1817-1895
A fugitive slave, Douglass became a skilled abolitionist
speaker, praised for “wit, argument, sarcasm, and
pathos.” He urged blacks to pursue vocational
education and the vote; his print shop in Rochester,
New York, was a depot on the underground.
roads near Cincinnati, he hired a hearse and
disguised the group as a funeral procession.
JOSIAH HENSON 1789-1883
Henry “Box” Brown, a slave, had himself
shipped from Richmond to Philadelphia in a
wooden Box.
So trustworthy a slave that his owner made him an overseer,
Henson, while transporting slaves to Kentucky, resisted others’
efforts to free them all. Harriet Beecher Stowe attributed a
similar episode to Uncle Tom in her novel. Henson eventually
escaped to Canada, led others to safety, and traveled as
abolitionist and businessman.