How did the African-Americans escape detection on the Underground Railroad?

Harriet Tubman (Not sure if I spelled her name right?) helped them cross didn’t she ?

They traveled mostly by night, and were hidden in the households of abolitionists and emancipated slaves. Cincinnati has Underground Railroad Museum. There were hidden rooms in safe houses, and in part of Louisville, KY there are houses that were connected by tunnels, to take slaves to safety until they could be transferred to the next station.

Bounty hunters would watch the crossing points along the Ohio River, and would follow known abolitionists and transporters into IN and OH, to reclaim people.

You might find this site about the Underground Railroad in Maryland helpful.

“If you come to us and are hungry, we will feed you, if thirsty, we will give you drink, if naked, we will clothe you; if sick, we will minister to your necessities, if in prison, we will visit you; if you need a hiding place from the face of pursuers, we will provide one that even bloodhounds will not scent out.”—American Antislavery Society 1843

People, both white and black were sympathetic to their plight and were prepared to help them. There are a few books about the Underground Railroad in Google Books. To get the full text you may have to ask your local library.

The Underground Railroad was used as a tool against slavery not to benefit equal rights. I mention this because you were talking about racism in your description. Many people of the time could feel slavery was wrong without feeling the effected race was equal. They were two separate issues within this time period. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was declared unconstitutional in 1883 as an illustration of the separation in issues of slavery and race.

I just happen to be rereading Uncle Tom’s Cabin and it seems many folks were opposed to slavery and would help the escapees along the way. When you read that book it makes what is called racism today seem inconsequential in comparison. It was a terrible time in our history.

They were mostly hidden along the way by the abolitionists, etc. We have a couple of places around here that have hidden chambers in the cellars that were used to conceal the slaves. It’s intersting to see but also disturbing.

Although some will doubt the theory, there were a lot of spirituals that were sung with a double meaning, the hidden meaning being instructions for runaway slaves. Some of these are: Follow the Drinking Gourd, Wade in the Water, Go Down, Moses

Here is a song entitled “Song of the Free”, sung to the tune of “Oh! Susanna.

Not all the people in the south were in favor of slavery and were willing to give succor to slaves trying to escape. But even once they were in the north, there were still those that would try to arrest the slaves and send them back to their “owners”. I know in NE Ohio, there was a place called the Unionville Tavern. In the basement of this tavern was a door that led to a tunnel that went diagonally under the roads to a church. This was used to hide runaway slaves during that time and was considered part of the underground railroad.