<P> At its peak, nearly 1,000 slaves per year escaped from slave - holding states using the Underground Railroad--more than 5,000 court cases for escaped slaves were recorded--many fewer than the natural increase of the enslaved population . The resulting economic impact was minuscule, but the psychological influence on slaveholders was immense . Under the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, officials from free states were required to assist slaveholders or their agents who recaptured runaway slaves, but citizens and governments of many free states ignored the law, and the Underground Railroad thrived . </P> <P> With heavy lobbying by southern politicians, the Compromise of 1850 was passed by Congress after the Mexican--American War . It stipulated a more stringent Fugitive Slave Law; ostensibly, the compromise addressed regional problems by compelling officials of free states to assist slave catchers, granting them immunity to operate in free states . Because the law required sparse documentation to claim a person was a fugitive, slave catchers also kidnapped free blacks, especially children, and sold them into slavery . Southern politicians often exaggerated the number of escaped slaves and often blamed these escapes on Northerners interfering with Southern property rights . The law deprived suspected slaves of the right to defend themselves in court, making it difficult to prove free status . In a de facto bribe, judges were paid a higher fee ($10) for a decision that confirmed a suspect as a slave than for one ruling that the suspect was free ($5). Many Northerners who might have ignored slave issues in the South were confronted by local challenges that bound them to support slavery . This was a primary grievance cited by the Union during the American Civil War, and the perception that Northern States ignored the fugitive slave law was a major justification for secession . </P> <P> The escape network was not literally underground nor a railroad . It was figuratively "underground" in the sense of being an underground resistance . It was known as a "railroad" by way of the use of rail terminology in the code . The Underground Railroad consisted of meeting points, secret routes, transportation, and safe houses, and personal assistance provided by abolitionist sympathizers . Participants generally organized in small, independent groups; this helped to maintain secrecy because individuals knew some connecting "stations" along the route but knew few details of their immediate area . Escaped slaves would move north along the route from one way station to the next . "Conductors" on the railroad came from various backgrounds and included free - born blacks, white abolitionists, former slaves (either escaped or manumitted), and Native Americans . Church clergy and congregations often played a role, especially the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Congregationalists, Wesleyans, and Reformed Presbyterians, as well as certain sects of mainstream denominations such as branches of the Methodist church and American Baptists . Without the presence and support of free black residents, there would have been almost no chance for fugitive slaves to pass into freedom unmolested . </P> <P> To reduce the risk of infiltration, many people associated with the Underground Railroad knew only their part of the operation and not of the whole scheme . "Conductors" led or transported the fugitives from station to station . A conductor sometimes pretended to be a slave in order to enter a plantation . Once a part of a plantation, the conductor would direct the runaways to the North . Slaves traveled at night, about 10--20 miles (16--32 km) to each station . They rested, and then a message was sent to the next station to let the station master know the runaways were on their way . They would stop at the so - called "stations" or "depots" during the day and rest . The stations were often located in barns, under church floors, or in hiding places in caves and hollowed - out riverbanks . </P>

Where did the name underground railroad come from
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