THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO FREEDOM

                                                              Harriet Tubman (1820 – 1913) was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue more than 70 slaves^[ using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause The term is also applied to the abolitionists, both black and white, free and enslaved, who aided the fugitives.Other various routes led to Mexico or overseas Created in the early 19th century, the Underground Railroad was at its height between 1850 and 1860 One estimate suggests that by 1850, 100,000 slaves had escaped via the "Railroad".^[5] British North America, where slavery was prohibited, was a popular destination, as its long border gave many points of access. More than 30,000 people were said to have escaped there via the network at its peak,^[6] although U.S. Census figures account for only 6,000. The Underground Railroad fugitives' stories are documented in the Underground Railroad Records.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman