Final answer:
The Underground Railroad was a clandestine network of routes and safe houses that helped slaves escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and sympathizers. It was a metaphorical 'railroad' that provided a resistance movement against slavery, and it played a crucial role in the liberation of around 100,000 slaves by 1850.
Step-by-step explanation:
What was the Underground Railroad?
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by nineteenth-century black slaves in the United States to escape to Northern free states and Canada. With the aid of abolitionists and those sympathetic to their cause, slaves could navigate these routes.
The term "Underground Railroad" was figurative, indicating the covert, clandestine nature of the operations.
It wasn't an actual railroad or underground, but a series of meeting points, secret paths, transportation, and safe houses organized by opponents of slavery, including both black and white abolitionists, free-born blacks, former slaves, and Native Americans.
Churches played a significant role, particularly the Society of Friends (Quakers), and various other religious denominations.
Harriet Tubman, Henry Highland Garnet, Alexander Crummell, and Amos Noë Freeman were among the many who participated in the UGRR, despite the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 making it illegal.
By 1850, an estimated 100,000 slaves had escaped via the Underground Railroad, highlighting its impact and significance in the fight against slavery.
The UGRR was more than just a pathway to freedom; it was a form of resistance against the proslavery government, symbolizing an alliance between free African American families, white abolitionists, and other anti-slavery advocates who together constructed this freedom network.