The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad (HM32Q)

Location: Preston, MD 21655 Caroline County
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 42.081', W 75° 53.837'

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Seed of War

Among the factors that contributed to the coming of the Civil War was the increasing animosity between Southerners and Northerners over the issue of slavery. The operation of the Underground Railroad to help slaves escape to the free North and Canada, which was supported by Northern anti-slavery societies, was a sharp thorn in the sides of slaveholders.

Two major "stations" on the Underground Railroad were located near Preston. Local Quakers, long opposed to slavery, operated one and Harriet Tubman and her parents, Benjamin and Harriet Ross, ran the other. The success of these and other stations in Maryland led to the calling of local and statewide slaveholder conventions, which denounced the North for harboring fugitive slaves. Maryland slave owners were further enraged when these two stations were exposed in 1857-58, but most of their operators, including Tubman, escaped to Northern states and Canada.

On the other hand, Northern abolitionists were angered when a captured "conductor," Sam Green, received a ten-year prison sentence. The respective animosities of slaveholders and abolitionists, increased by the Underground Railroad, finally found expression in armed conflict in 1861.

(caption of picture, lower right): Harriet Tubman may have crossed Hunting Creek at or near Linchester Mill enroute to and from her parents Underground Railroad station.

(caption of picture, center top): Linchester Mill had changed very little from the period of Harriet Tubman when this photo was taken, circa 1897.

(caption of map on right): Possible Underground Railroad route between the Choptank River and Willow Grove, Delaware used by Harriet Tubman.
Details
HM NumberHM32Q
Series This marker is part of the Maryland Civil War Trails series
Tags
Placed ByMaryland Civil War Trails
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, September 13th, 2014 at 7:30pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 421976 N 4284017
Decimal Degrees38.70135000, -75.89728333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 42.081', W 75° 53.837'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 42' 4.86" N, 75° 53' 50.22" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)410
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 3395 Linchester Rd, Preston MD 21655, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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