UndergroundRailroad

[|Map of the Underground Railroad] [|National Geographic's Interactive Underground Railroad] media type="custom" key="3077958" media type="youtube" key="fCy-c4EQVWQ" height="344" width="425" The Underground Railroad was a system set up by abolitionists to get slaves from the South to freedom. It was very organized and considered to be a network of networks. Slaves traveled at night to prevent being seen and they gave the "station conductors " thank you gifts as they passed along. These "stations" were outposts where the runaways were kept during the day to prevent from being caught. They were mainly run by white abolitionists. One of the most famous conductors was Levi Coffin. In 20 years he freed over 3000 slaves. Organizing this system was very hard because the only way of communicating was by talking to people. People communicated through songs, stories and coded language so that overseers would not suspect any rebellion or runaway.