The Underground Railroad.
§ 70. Underground Railroad.—From the preceding sketch of the conditions of escape, it is plain that no such numbers as are known to have fled could possibly have escaped from their masters' power had they depended solely upon their own exertions. From the beginning of the antislavery agitation, about 1830, and especially near 1850, a mysterious organization made it a business to receive, forward, conceal, and protect fugitives. To that organization the name of "Underground Railroad" was given, and the many methods used by those connected with it can best be given under a more elaborate description of the system.
§ 71. Rise and growth of the system.—The first efforts toward any systematic organization for the aid and protection of fugitive slaves are found among the Quakers in Pennsylvania. The great number of cases of kidnapping which occurred in this State after the passage of the law of 1793, by their injustice roused people to action in behalf of the free blacks; and, their sympathies once enlisted for the colored race, it was but a step to the aid of the fugitive negroes.[236] From this time, as the number of runaways increased, new agencies were constantly being established, until from the slave States to Canada a perfect chain of stations was arranged, not more than one day's journey apart.[237] The system is said to have extended from Kentucky and Virginia across Ohio, and from Maryland, through Pennsylvania and New York, to New England and Canada.[238]
As negroes began to disappear, and their masters found themselves unable to trace them farther than certain towns in Pennsylvania, they said, in bewilderment, "There must be an Underground Railroad somewhere," and this expression, suiting the popular fancy, became the general name by which the whole system was known.[239]