The first enslaved Africans arrived in America in 1619. They were brought across the Atlantic Ocean in large ships, where they had to laid chained in cramped, dark quarters in the bottom of the ships. It is estimated about 1.8 million Africans died on these journeys due to illness, starvation, and unsanitary conditions.

As soon as they arrived in America they were taken to auctions and were sold like animals to the highest bidder. They were separated from their families and loved ones, sometimes forever. They were not considered to be human beings and had no rights at all. Some slaves were beaten and killed by their masters.

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made it illegal for slaves to escape. Under this law, slaves who escaped had to be captured and returned to their owners, even if they reached the Northern states. This law also made it a crime to help slaves escape.

Not all Africans were slaves in America. Their ship might have arrived in a northern port, they bought their freedom from their masters, some masters gave them their freedom, and some were never enslaved. In order not to be returned to the South they had to carry special papers that stated they were free people.

It is told that the term "Underground Railroad" was derived from a story of a slave named Tice Davids who had escaped from Kentucky. He swam across the Ohio River to reach the free state of Ohio, when he reached the other side of the river he looked over his shoulder and noticed that his owner was behind him but Tice Davids disappeared as soon as he reached the shore. His owner was stumped by this and stated that he "must have gone off on an underground railroad".

Underground mean't that it was a secret. Railroad mean't that it was a way to travel from one point to another.

Agents - helped people escape by giving them clues, money, or other help. Stationmasters - took escaped slaves into their homes [which were called stations]. Conductors - guided people to freedom.

From 1786 on, fugitive slaves could escape northward on the Underground Railroad, which covered 14 northern states by 1830. From 1840 to 1860, about 50,000 slaves travelled it to settle in the North. The Federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 was countered by the Personal Liberty Laws of many northern states.

More than 15,000 free African Americans returned to Africa between 1821 and 1860. The colony of Liberia was established by the American Colonization Society in 1822 and became independent in 1847.