Underground Railroad conductors were free individuals who helped slaves travel along the Underground Railroad. They helped runaways by leading them on a safe voyage to and from check points. They moved during the night with catchers hunting them. Most of the time these check points would be located within homes and businesses. The act of taking the slaves put theses conductors in grave danger, even though they insisted on going because they believed in a cause greater than themselves, which was the freeing of thousands of enslaved humans.
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These conductors were made up of many people groups, and included people of different races and occupations. There were also former slaves who were saved by the Underground Railroad and voluntarily returned to the slave states, as conductors, to help free those still prisoned in slavery. Since the slaves were considered as property, and the conductors would help them escape, that was viewed as stealing someones personal property. If a conductor was caught while helping free slaves, they were fined, imprisoned, branded, or even hanged
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