Definition: 

un'derground rail'road
1. Also called un'derground rail'way. a railroad running through a continuous tunnel, as under city streets; subway.
2. (often caps.) U.S. Hist. (before the abolition of slavery) a system for helping fugitive slaves to escape into Canada or other places of safety.      (Infoplease.com)

During the 1800s, over one hundred thousand enslaved fugitives sought freedom through the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad is the symbolic term given to the routes enslaved Black Americans took to gain their freedom as they traveled, often as far as Canada and Mexico. Free Blacks, Whites, Native Americans and former slaves acted as conductors by aiding fugitive slaves to their freedom. This 19th century freedom movement challenged the way Americans viewed slavery and freedom. (by: National Underground Railroad Freedom Center)

An Underground Railroad timeline- This is a timeline from 1501 when the African slaves entered the new world through 1865 when the 13th Amendment was added to the Constitution to abolish slavery.

Aboard the Underground Railroad- This site offers information about the underground railroad movement and its operation as well as information about slave trade, early antislavery, and the Civil War.  There is also a map and links to important sites along the underground railroad.

Underground Railroad- An organized system for helping fugitive slaves escape.  Find information about the underground railroad as presented in the Columbia Encyclopedia. 

Network To Freedom- Information about the underground railroad and its history presented by the National Park Service.  This site has information from across the country. 

History of "The Drinking Gourd"- It was a coded song that gave the route for an escape from Alabama and Mississippi.  Learn more about this song at this website.