Answer: The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century, and used by enslaved African-Americans to escape into free states and Canada. The scheme was assisted by abolitionists and others sympathetic to the cause of the escapees. 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. Underground Railroad conductors were free individuals who helped fugitive slaves traveling along the Underground Railroad. Conductors helped runaway slaves by providing them with safe passage to and from stations. They did this under the cover of darkness with slave catchers hot on their heels.
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