Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad

“The advantages of escape by boat were early discerned by slaves living near the coast or along inland rivers. Vessels engaged in our coastwise trade became more or less involved in transporting fugitives from Southern ports to Northern soil.” -- William H. Siebert, The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom (1898), 81.

Self-emancipation along the Underground Railroad was not entirely by overland routes. What has been largely overlooked by historians is the great number of enslaved persons who made their way to freedom using coastal water routes along the Atlantic seaboard. Enslaved African Americans often escaped by sea aboard merchant and passenger ships, or using smaller watercraft.

This groundbreaking exhibition expands our understanding of how freedom was achieved by sea and what the journey looked like for many African Americans.

Research undertaken for this exhibition demonstrates that a far larger number of fugitives than previously thought actually escaped bondage by sea -- especially those fleeing from coastal areas in the Deep South, where slaves were commonly employed in diverse maritime industries, such as: estuary and near-coastal fishing or oystering, tidal river boatmen and ferrymen, coastwise cargo shipping crews, shipyard artisans, or stevedores and longshoremen.

Such work gave enslaved persons significant experience with vessels and seafaring, a basic knowledge of coastal geography, direct or indirect contact with ships’ crews from northern free states, and ready access to vessels heading out to sea.

This specialized strategic knowledge conveyed power and opportunity. For enslaved persons in the far coastal south, escape by water was the logical option, and the only viable way to achieve an exit from their enslaved circumstances.