along the lines were called stations (Comptons, 7). If a runaway .
was to find a lantern hanging on a hitching post, it meant a safe .
house to stay at. It is said in Canada, a slave could own land and .
even vote (National Geographic.com). .
Not only slaves put up a fight for their freedom, there were .
also the abolitionist who helped most along the railroad. .
Antislavery groups were a strong resource in the fight for .
freedom, these groups were Quakers, Methodist, Mennonites and .
also 7 Protestant denominations. The Quaker leader Thomas .
Garrett is reputed to have helped over 2,700 slaves escape to .
freedom (Compton's,7), he was once arrested and fined 5,400 .
for helping slaves escape (National Geographic.com). Every one .
can recognize Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave, and also called .
the "Moses of the Blacks" (Funk and Wagnalls, 154). Levi Coffin, a .
Quaker, was called "President of the Underground Railroad" it is .
said he helped more that 3,ooo slaves escape (World Book, 21). .
Agents of the Underground Railroad in towns were known as a .
"Vigilance Committee" (Funk and Wagnalls, 154). Along with the .
good guys there has to be bad guys, these were the slave hunters. .
These men, sometimes black, used bloodhounds to search for .
runaways (national Geographic.com). To lead astray their .
pursuers, the hounds and hunters, some slaves rubbed the soles of .
their shoes with a red onion or spruce pine. Most also changed .
their names, making new one's up to be recognized as in their .
new life (Underground Railroad,38). It was posted that anyone .
who was to find or see a runaway is to capture them and .
immediately send them back to their master (Compton's, 7). .
Professional slave catchers and vigilant officials often seized .
fugitives to gain rewards from the master, or owner (Funk and .
Wagnalls, 154). The slave catchers could obtain a search warrant .
and would never hesitate to use violence or a gun on a slave .
(Book of Knowlege,11).
