Chapter 1 AN UNUSUAL NAME The Underground Railroad was not underground and it was not a railroad It was a system of people who helped slaves escape People in the Underground Railroad provided food clothing transportation and safe places for fugitive or runaway slaves to stay No one really knows how the Underground Railroad got the name One legend credits a slave catcher who was chasing a slave in the 1830s When the slave quickly slipped out of sight the catcher said the slave must have traveled on a secret railroad under the ground Underground also means secret People secretly worked in the Underground Railroad 4
In the mid-1800s railroads were becoming popular ways to travel in the United States So people used railroad terms to identify parts of the Underground Railroad system Homes and churches were stations on the Underground Railroad where fugitive slaves could hide and rest Fugitive slaves were called passengers Those who helped the slaves were called agents and those who guided them were conductors Station keepers were people who provided places for the slaves to stay as they traveled North to seek freedom The Milton House Inn built by Joseph Goodrich was used to hide and transport runaway slaves due to its close proximity to a well traveled transportation line Freedom Fact The Underground Railroad was not run by a single person or group The system was made up of many people secret routes meeting places and safe houses 5
Chapter 2 SLAVERY The first slaves arrived in America in 1619 by boat Men and women were captured in Africa forced to leave their homes and brought to America As this young country grew so did the number of slaves Slaves were the legal property of their owners called masters They were often whipped for little or no reason Some were beaten to death Slaves lived under strict laws They could not own property Most were not allowed to learn to read and write and children of slaves became slaves 6
Slaves could be bought and sold The slave families were often separated when a parent or child was sold and moved to another plantation a large farm When slaves were sold they often never saw their families again The master’s family lived in a large house Slave families usually had tiny shacks with a dirt floor to call home Slaves worked from sunup to sundown for no pay They survived on little food and their clothing was often ragged They had no control over their lives Their owners decided where they lived the work they did and how they lived Plantation Life Most slaves could not leave the plantation without a pass given by their master Many were not allowed to gather in groups of more than five They could not testify in court against their owners Slaves had little hope for freedom because they were enslaved for life 7
