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The Underground Railroad was a network of escape routes that were described using railroad terms. 'Passengers' were runaway slaves fleeing from the South. Their guides were called 'conductors' and they led them from one 'station' to another. Escape routes stretched from the southern slave states into the North and on to Canada. Fugitives usually traveled secretly at night, and were hidden in 'safe houses', barns, and haylofts in the day. Thousands of antislavery campaigners, both black and white, risked their lives to operate the railway. There was no "map" as the people involved had to keep everything secret. Directions were passed orally from person to person as the need arose.

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16y ago

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