National Underground Railroad: Network To Freedom

The Underground Railroad refers to efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage. Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape, at first to maroon communities in remote or rugged terrain on the edge of settled areas. Their acts of self-emancipation made them ìfugitivesî according to the laws of the times, though in retrospect ìfreedom seekerî seems a more accurate description. While most freedom seekers began their journey unaided and many completed their self-emancipation without assistance, each decade in which slavery was legal in the United States saw an increase in active efforts to assist escape. In many cases the decision to assist a freedom seeker may have been a spontaneous reaction as the opportunity presented itself. However, in some places, particularly after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the Underground Railroad was deliberate and organized.

Through this National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, the National Park Service is demonstrating the significance of the Underground Railroad not only in the eradication of slavery, but as a cornerstone of our national civil rights movement.