The Underground Railroad Essay

766 Words4 Pages

In the early 1800’s many homeowners had slaves to do work for them. Slaves were treated terribly, had little to eat and had no rights to protect them. When the United States was established the Union split into two sides, pro-slavery and non-slavery states. The South was filled with slave owners and the North was filled with people who wanted to abolish it for good. After this the Union was highly motivated to end it, but there were many in the United States who wanted to increase it and some wanted to abolish it. This is when slaves decided to take a chance to save themselves and get themselves to freedom. Approaching the Civil War, slavery got so bad that slaves started to flee their masters from the South to get into free Northern states …show more content…

When other Quakers in North Carolina heard about Hopper they helped create groups to make routes and shelters to help slaves escape. As years passed these secret routes began to grow and they became more intricate and it officially got the name, The Underground Railroad in 1831. People who were part of the secret network would always be willing to help hide slaves in their house so they can rest before they go to their next stop. If slaves needed somewhere to stay, people part of the network would have a certain sign or code in front of their house so slaves knew that the house was safe. Many slaves hid in barns and in basements just so they couldn’t be seen by other Masters in the south. This was just the beginning of the Underground Railroad because as time passed it began to grow and many slaves were able to …show more content…

Soon after President Lincoln got elected Southern states began to secede from the Union. The Southern states called themselves the Confederate States of America or the Confederacy. In 1861 the Civil War began with the Confederacy versus the Union. The Underground Railroad played an important role against the Confederacy and the Underground Railroad got increasing support from Northerners and states still part of the Union. The Civil War was the time when The Underground Railroad was used the most because slaves didn’t want to be put into war to sub in for their masters. By this time many people had heard of the Underground Railroad and especially during the Civil War the Underground Railroad had to become even more