The Underground Railroad is one of the most historical national monuments around the world. The term Underground Railroadwas used to describe a network of meeting places, secret passageways, safe house used by the African slaves to escape the slave states and travel to the northern states, such as Canada (“Underground Railroad Where History”). The Underground Railroad also had many prominent figures including Harriet Tubman, John Fairfield, and Levi Coffin (“People who were slaves”)
A few people became famous for their work with the Underground Railroad. Levi Coffin, a Quaker, was known as the unofficial president of the Underground Railroad. It was said that he helped more than three thousand slaves escape to Canada. His home in Cincinnati, Ohio became known as the Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad.
The Underground Railroad was not located underground nor was it a railroad. It was symbolically underground as the network’s clandestine activities were secret and illegal so they had to remain “underground” to help fugitive slaves stay out of sight. The term “railroad” was used because the railroad was an emerging system of transportation and its supporters used railroad code to communicate in secret language. Slaves used songs called spirituals to communicate with each other.
