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he images of the Underground Railroad are deeply
etched in our imagination: fugitive slaves traveling furtively under cover of
darkness, pursued by heavily armed slave catchers and vicious bloodhounds,
assisted by benevolent abolitionists who hid them in haystacks and secret rooms
and lead them to freedom.
This image of the Underground Railroad is
profoundly misleading. Most fugitives could not depend on an organized system
of underground railroad stations to ferry them to freedom. While some
abolitionists like Levi Coffin, William Still, and Harriet Tubman actively
assisted runaways, most fugitives had to rely on their own wits. They had to
borrow or forge passes, devise disguises, locate hiding places, or stow away on
boats or trains. As one Illinois abolitionist later pointed out: "I do not
know of any fugitive ever being transported by anyone, they always had to pilot
their own canoe, with the little help that they received."