At the time of the Civil War, one of every eight people living in the United States was considered the legal property of someone else. Men and women, black and white, risked their lives to carve an elaborate network of escape routes out of slavery that became known as the Underground Railroad. A loosely organized group of deeply committed individuals who employed everything from secret codes to false-bottom wagons to bring fugitives out of bondage to havens of freedom.

Originally broadcast on American Experience in 2005.