The Underground Railroads that Ran South

 Many know of the Underground Railroad that helped slaves run away from their hard induced labor and ruthless owners. However, the name "Underground Railroad" is not as literal as it says. It was neither underground or a railroad. Rather, it was a large intricate system that helped slaves who wished for freedom. Under the ideals of abolitionists which spread all over America, they helped slaves find their dream of freedom.

The name "Underground Railroad" came from two different parts of the name. Underground, in a sense that the movement was a secret. It was figuratively "underground", or an underground resistance. The second half of the name, comes from the usage of railroad terminology that was used as code words. People that would help the slaves find their freedom would use code words like "conductor", who were the people that would lead the slaves from place to place, or a "station" to signify the place where slaves could hide, be safe, and have protection. Other secret words were used to guide the slaves to the North. Many called the Ohio River, the River Jordan, a biblical reference, and called the end goal of the north or Canada, the "Promised Land" or "Heaven".

The Underground Railroad was easier and more common for slaves that lived in states bordering northern free states, like Tennessee, Missouri, or Kentucky. However, this was not the case for many slaves as they lived on the southern side of America, in states like Texas, or Florida. Finding refuge all the way up north in Canada seemed like an impossibility, for they had to trek across the entire country through other slave states. It discouraged many to seek freedom. Luckily, slavery in Mexico was prohibited.

A "Southern Underground Railroad", was known by few slaves in Texas, but it eventually circled throughout all the southern states bordering Mexico. According to Maria Hammock, a researcher at the University of Texas Austin who is is studying this topic estimated that 5,000 to 10,000 slaves broke their bondage and ventured into Mexico. With this large number of slaves, many had help from local Mexicans living in Texas, or tejanos who acted as conductors and northern abolitionist that would travel south to help slaves reach Mexico. They ventured into the southern land by foot, sneaking on through by ferries to Mexican ports, or rode by horse.

Of course there were slaveholders that knew of the slaves trying to escape to the south. They didn't like that people were helping them escape, so they attempted to get Mexico to sign a fugitive slave treaty, similar to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Mexico obviously refused to sign, saying that once slaves crossed into Mexican soil, they would be free. Despite the decline, slaveholders still sent "slave catchers" to illegally cross borders, and had to jurisdiction to capture the runaway slaves. These slave hunters that would receive bounties if they caught the slaves are now know today as Texas Rangers (also inspired the name for the baseball team in Texas).

Although when compared to the Northern Underground Railroad, the southern equivalent was less organized and less known, but it still had the same amount of impact on the vision of freedom for slaves. They gave slaves an opportunity to dream on something, which has influence many parts of later history.

Sources:

https://freedomcenter.org/enabling-freedom/history

https://www.history.com/news/underground-railroad-mexico-escaped-slaveshttps://remezcla.com/features/culture/underground-railroad-into-mexico/https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2013/marchapril/statement/south-freedom