The Underground Railroad (URR) emerged as a result of over four hundred years of slavery in the United States. Oppressed slaves wanted a way out, and with the help of Abolitionist and other Anti-Slavery proponents, many slaves escaped to freedom in Canada. A lot of them were helped along their way via the Underground Railroad.
The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad. It was a loosely constructed network of escape routes that originated in the Southern United States, through the less restricted North and eventually stretched to Canada. Slaves escaped not only to Canada, but also to Mexico and the Caribbean. This system of escape started as early as the 1500s and operated well into the 1800s.
Prominent names associated with the Underground Railroad movement includes Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, John Brown only to mention a few. What is impressive about this movement is that it did not have any formal organizational structure, but functioned effectively to liberate people of African descent living in bondage. Because of the risky nature of its operation, not many records were kept. But it is estimated that the Underground Railroad conductors helped thousands escape to freedom.