Underground Railroad

/ˌˈʌndərˌˈgraʊnd ˌreɪlˈroʊd/

/əndəˈgraʊnd ˈreɪlrəʊd/

During the era of slavery in the U.S., the Underground Railroad was the network of people who offered shelter and assistance to enslaved people who were escaping to free states and Canada.

The Underground Railroad, which stretched from the south all the way to Canada along various secret routes, was made up of safe houses where people who had escaped enslavement could safely find shelter as they made their way north. Free Black Americans, assisted by white Quakers and other abolitionists, organized the Underground Railroad, ultimately freeing tens of thousands of enslaved people. It remained active until President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862.

Definitions of Underground Railroad

1. noun

   secret aid to escaping slaves that was provided by abolitionists in the years before the American Civil War
   synonyms: Underground Railway

   example of:

   escape, flight

   the act of escaping physically