What is "underground railroad"

Railroad \Rail"road`\ (r[=a]l"r[=o]d`), Railway \Rail"way`\ (r[=a]l"w[=a]`), n.

1. A road or way consisting of one or more parallel series of iron or steel rails, patterned and adjusted to be tracks for the wheels of vehicles, and suitably supported on a bed or substructure.

   Note: The modern railroad is a development and adaptation of the older tramway.

2. The road, track, etc., with all the lands, buildings, rolling stock, franchises, etc., pertaining to them and constituting one property; as, a certain railroad has been put into the hands of a receiver. Note: Railway is the commoner word in England; railroad the commoner word in the United States. Note: In the following and similar phrases railroad and railway are used interchangeably: Atmospheric railway, Elevated railway, etc. See under Atmospheric, Elevated, etc. Cable railway. See Cable road, under Cable. Ferry railway, a submerged track on which an elevated platform runs, for carrying a train of cars across a water course. Gravity railway, a railway, in a hilly country, on which the cars run by gravity down gentle slopes for long distances after having been hauled up steep inclines to an elevated point by stationary engines. Railway brake, a brake used in stopping railway cars or locomotives. Railway car, a large, heavy vehicle with flanged wheels fitted for running on a railway. [U.S.] Railway carriage, a railway passenger car. [Eng.] Railway scale, a platform scale bearing a track which forms part of the line of a railway, for weighing loaded cars. Railway slide. See Transfer table, under Transfer. Railway spine (Med.), an abnormal condition due to severe concussion of the spinal cord, such as occurs in railroad accidents. It is characterized by ataxia and other disturbances of muscular function, sensory disorders, pain in the back, impairment of general health, and cerebral disturbance, -- the symptoms often not developing till some months after the injury. Underground railroad Underground railway.

   1. A railroad or railway running through a tunnel, as beneath the streets of a city.

   2. Formerly, a system of co["o]peration among certain active antislavery people in the United States prior to 1866, by which fugitive slaves were secretly helped to reach Canada.

      Note: [In the latter sense railroad, and not railway, was usually used.] ``Their house was a principal entrep[^o]t of the underground railroad.''
      --W. D. Howells.

Underground \Un"der*ground`\, a.

1. Being below the surface of the ground; as, an underground story or apartment.

2. Done or occurring out of sight; secret. [Colloq.]

   Underground railroad or Underground railway. See under Railroad.

"network of U.S. anti-slavery activists helping runaways elude capture," attested from 1847, but said to date from 1831 and to have been coined in jest by bewildered trackers after their slaves vanished without a trace. Originally mostly the term for escape networks in the (then) western states of the U.S.

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century enslaved people of African descent in the United States in efforts 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. Various other routes led to Mexico or overseas. An earlier escape route running south toward Florida, then a Spanish possession, existed from the late 17th century until shortly after the American Revolution. However, the network now generally known as the Underground Railroad was formed in the early 19th century, and reached its height between 1850 and 1860. One estimate suggests that by 1850, 100,000 slaves had escaped via the "Railroad".

British North America (present-day Canada), where slavery was prohibited, was a popular destination, as its long border gave many points of access. Most former slaves settled in Ontario. More than 30,000 people were said to have escaped there via the network during its 20-year peak period, although U.S. Census figures account for only 6,000. Numerous fugitives' stories are documented in the 1872 book The Underground Railroad Records by William Still, an abolitionist who then headed the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee.

Underground Railroad is a live album by saxophonist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in 1969 at the Holy Cross Monastery and originally released on the CjR label, then reissued by Atavistic in 2001 with a bonus concert from the same venue.

The Underground Railroad was a network of escape routes for slaves in the 19th century United States. It may also refer to:

• The Underground Railroad (book), 1872 book by William Still
• The Underground Railroad, 2016 novel by Colson Whitehead

• Railways built underground, see rapid transit
• Underground Railroad (band), French post-punk band based in London
• Underground Railroad (album), 1969 album by saxophonist and composer Joe McPhee

Underground Railroad are a French post-punk band based in London, England. The band are on independent label One Little Indian Records and have released three albums, Twisted Trees (2007), Sticks and Stones (2008) and White Night Stand (2011), as well as an EP, Pick the Ghost... in 2009. They toured promoting both their first two albums in the UK, and the rest of Europe, from 2007 to 2009.

They have been featured in the NME's "Radar" and Q magazine's "QPM show", and been played on the Zane Lowe show on BBC Radio 1. They also featured on the BBC Introducing Stage at 2008 Reading and Leeds Festival.

The band's members are Raphael Mura on drums and vocals, Marion Andrau on guitar and vocals, with JB Ganivet on bass guitar and backing vocals. Cello player Anna Scott played on their third album White Night Stand, and joins the band on occasional tour dates.