African risked everything to find freedom

Since the earliest days of slavery, African risked everything to find freedom. Escaped slaves made their way to Canada, Mexico and areas of the United States where they could live free.

Not run by any one person or organization, the Underground Railroad was a large network of safe houses and routes that escaped slaves used to travel to the North, often covering 10 to 20 miles each day. Harriet Tubman, who escaped from slavery in 1849, is famous for her work as one of the many "conductors" on the Underground Railroad. She journeyed often into the South to help slaves find their way.

Captured Africans did show resistance and the captives showed the resistance in many ways. Not only would they fight against their masters and slave owners, but some slave did not want to fight in fear that they might be punished, so instead they showed resistance and did things like:

• break tools
• sabotage production of products
• work slowly
• fake illness
• go on strike