Causes
The Underground Railroad was established to aid enslaved people in their escape to freedom. The railroad was comprised of dozens of secret routes and safe houses originating in the slaveholding states and extending all the way to the Canadian border, the only area where fugitives could be assured of their freedom. It was established by a secret network of abolitionists who wanted to abolish slavery, they realized that African Americans were treated so terribly which made them make the decision to change that and hopefully provide a better future for African Americans over the world which would last centuries and centuries after they have passed. Tubman first encountered the Underground Railroad when she used it to escape slavery herself in 1849 which gave her the idea to use the same system to help over 100,000 slaves to escape too.
Effects
It helped to undermine the institution of slavery, which was finally ended in the United States during the Civil War. Many slaveholders were so angry at the success of the Underground Railroad that they grew to hate the North. It gave ample evidence of African American capabilities and gave expression to African American philosophy. Those who escaped became human witnesses to the slave system with many of them going on the lecture circuit to explain to Northerners the horrors of the servile institution. One of the effects that the underground railroad had on Harriet Tubman was that When she was about 12 years old she reportedly refused to help an overseer punish another enslaved person, and she suffered a severe head injury when he threw an iron weight that accidentally struck her; she subsequently suffered seizures throughout her life.
Effects
It helped to undermine the institution of slavery, which was finally ended in the United States during the Civil War. Many slaveholders were so angry at the success of the Underground Railroad that they grew to hate the North. It gave ample evidence of African American capabilities and gave expression to African American philosophy. Those who escaped became human witnesses to the slave system with many of them going on the lecture circuit to explain to Northerners the horrors of the servile institution. One of the effects that the underground railroad had on Harriet Tubman was that When she was about 12 years old she reportedly refused to help an overseer punish another enslaved person, and she suffered a severe head injury when he threw an iron weight that accidentally struck her; she subsequently suffered seizures throughout her life.