The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape into free states and Canada in the early to mid-1800s. The Underground Railroad was vital to the abolitionist movement, allowing thousands of people to escape the horrors of slavery and pursue freedom and opportunity.
Though the Underground Railroad was secretive, stories and myths about it lived on, often in the form of riddles that contained hidden messages. These riddles helped teach and preserve important history while protecting the anonymity of people who participated in this courageous resistance movement.
Here are 54 riddles about the Underground Railroad, along with their answers:
Riddles About Underground Railroad Locations and Routes
Q: I am a path that cannot be seen that runs beneath your feet. I helped many to freedom through the cover of night. What am I?
A: The Underground Railroad
Q: I am the light that guided the way north. Escaped slaves knew to look for me as the first stop to freedom. What am I?
A: The North Star
Q: I go south without moving at all. What landmark am I?
A: The Ohio River (which represented a river crossing point to freedom)
Q: We cross a river border in the dark, quiet as mice we dare not bark. Too many hazards left and right, but we’re determined to win this fight. Where are we headed on this historic night?
A: Crossing the Ohio River heading north
Q: Over the hills and through the valleys, escaping so our freedom rallies. Only at night we do prevail, on this path we daily trail. Where is this trail that is unseen upon which slaves have their dreams?
A: The Underground Railroad
Q: I am a dusty old attic where travelers can rest on their journey one last time before the light. What am I?
A: A safe house attic near Canada
Riddles About Underground Railroad Guides and Codes
Q: We guide the way under the cover of night, moving silent as mice toward the northern light. Who are we that show the trail?
A: Conductors on the Underground Railroad
Q: I am a patchwork map sewn in fabric that holds a special code. I point the way to safe houses where runaways can hide along the road. What am I?
A: A quilt used to direct slaves to freedom
Q: Knock on the door to my kingdom in heaven and what do you see? The promised land that grants jubilee. Where is this door beyond the valley green?
A: Canada
Q: Drink from me and you shall see where the trail to freedom may be. I am a map that cannot be read that only the brave and quick of mind can interpret instead. What Riddle am I?
A: Coded song lyrics that contained escape instructions
Q: We hide escape instructions in riddle and verse so slave catchers won’t trap us first. What coded words do we disperse?
A: Coded spirituals
Riddles About Famous Underground Railroad Conductors
Q: A ram’s horn I did loudly blow, one hundred slaves to freedom I did show. Over nine hundred more through my cellar door – the Promised Land is what we’re searching for. Who am I that risked it all to heed freedom’s call?
A: Harriet Tubman
Q: I take pride in the name of my station – for freedom is my true vocation. I’m one of the last stops to sweet liberation, so memorize well my identification. What is the name of my famed location?
A: The Levi Coffin House
Q: Some think me mad to harbor fleeing slaves, but humanity’s call I freely gave. Over three thousand stayed here under my care, shepherded swiftly to freedom way up there. What Pennsylvania name fills me with pride for doing what’s right, not what others deride?
A: William Still
Q: Though I seemed a man abandoned by law, those escaping bondage knew to my door they could knock – one if by land, two if by sea, three if trouble there be. I hid hundreds of slaves cleverly. Who was I, that hero who secured slaves’ liberty?
A: Thomas Garrett
More Riddles About Freedom Conductors
Q: We were Quaker sisters born of means whose house was opened to fugitive teams. Over three hundred we did liberate – come follow the drinkin’ gourd, escapees did jubilate.
A: The Edmondson sisters
Q: Old friend it’s me, the freight agent is free. Tell my brothers up north that I’m aboard the midnight train.
A: Coded message used by William Still indicating an escape was underway
Riddles About Underground Railroad Passengers
Q: We were born and raised under dehumanizing law. At age 21 on freedom’s train we saw. Disguised as a white man a conductor led us north – to liberty and justice we are henceforth sworn. Who made this historic flight to freedom’s light?
A: William and Ellen Craft
Q: No words could convey what I saw and endured. At age 12 freedom was my only cure. Fleeing North I found a purpose so much more – to save countless others as a Union Corps. What famous figure made this courageous flight for civil rights?
A: Harriet Jacobs
Q: They tried to put my body back in chains, but the law of Illinois protected my claims. My journey to freedom was precedent setting – escaping with my children our new lives we’re getting. Celebrated in court, who am I?
A: Mary Walker
Q: We refused to be treated like property for the profit of others. Me and my young son fled discreetly. After returning back south to help others be free, in public we suddenly got caught. In jail we fought but eventually they sold us distraught. Though money was raised and freedom bought, our saddened souls could not be revitalized after all we had fought. Who were we that inspired many but saw what no one ought?
A: Anthony Burns
More Riddles About Passengers
Q: She was born a slave but purchased her freedom at age 29. She became a conductor that risked her life guiding slaves North just like Harriet T. Who was this woman who should get as much notoriety?
A: Harriet Jacobs
Q: though she lived every day in danger, she memorized details on those she helped liberate north to freedom. Her oral history recordings were invaluable though her life she did trade. Who was this heroic black female afraid?
A: Mary Walker
Riddles About Underground Railroad Abolitionists
Q: Twelve of us there were in printing and clandestine operations. We fought slavery through information circulation. What group battled slavery using education?
A: American Anti-Slavery Society
Q: Our words drip with persuasion abolition instruction. Hoping to sway those blinded to see humanity’s destruction. What famous suffragist brilliantly captured this social malfunction. Who used her influence to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin’s damning destruction?
A: Harriet Beecher Stowe
Q: My paper battle slavery using journalism might. Creating information access to help spread freedom and light. What pioneering paper exposed slavery insights?
A: The Liberator
Q: We were a network of activists north and south taking grave measures to help slaves escape faster towards freedom’s end route. Who were we taking action despite danger throughout?
A: Abolitionists on the Underground Railroad
More Riddles About Abolitionists
Q: My name strikes fear into slave owners everywhere. To them I’m nothing less than a radical and deranged abolitionist fair. My wild paper fights for universal equality without care. I’m their scandalous menace so who might I be?
A: William Lloyd Garrison
Q: I urged Lincoln to emancipate all slaves in the south. Though commerce was my trade, freedom was my truth. What Caldwell fella earned the nickname the radical abolitionist youth?
A: John Caldwell Calhoun
Riddles About Promised Lands and Canada
Q: We extend close to the Northern star – a beacon towards freedom, away from the invisible chains that scar. What destinations represent sanctuary afar?
A: Canada and the Northern free states
Q: I lived in the North not far from the final stops of the railroad track. I turned my Michigan farm into a refuge welcoming slaves behind my back. Who am I?
A: Laura Smith Haviland
Q: Come with me to the land of the cold star – Where slavery is illegal near and far Follow me to freedom without chains Where bondage and lashes cause no pains
A: Canada
Q: I stand at the end shining bright and grand, Come north here, slaves, to freedom’s land! No more chains shall bind you, no more shall whips snap, Welcome home children, there’s no turning back!
A: Canada
Q: We were colleges in the north founded before the civil war providing education and religious training to black refugees escaping slavery law. What historically black colleges offered slaves free thought and more?
A: Wilberforce University and Cheyney University
More Riddles About Freedom Lands
Q: Sales of me funded the work of abolitionists brave. I eased their financial worries and the amount of slaves they could save. What economically fueled this crusade grave?
A: Quaker Oats
Riddles About Slave Songs and Codes
Q: My lyrics hold hidden guides followed by those enslaved who dared. Escape routes and times safely shared. Messages embedded into songs publicly declared. What coded Negro spirituals publicly blared?
A: Coded slave spirituals
Q: Oh brother don’t get weary, there’s a great camp meeting in the promised land. When we meet death’s chilling tide, we’ll cross over to the other side. What am I?
A: Coded lyrics about the Underground Railroad
Q: Look up north brothers, see that great star? It’ll guide your path, near or far. Follow it steady, follow it true, it’ll lead to freedom, me and you.
A: Song referencing the North Star
Q: I rode six hundred miles away. Got over into Queen Victoria’s domain. What classic spiritual references arriving to freedom in Canada?
A: The song “Song of the Free”
Q: My name is Miss Lucy. I held messages useful to slaves hoping to get free. To outsiders I may seem abstract, but those escaping knew how to extract the hidden facts. Who am I specifically?
A: Coded song “Lucy Long”
More Riddles About Codes and Songs
Q: Even though my directions were complex, escapees approached me with no treplex. I embedded guides in rhythms upbeat, avoided trouble using tapping feet.
A: Coded song “Steal Away”
Riddles About Slave Narratives and Oratories
Q: My speeches lit fires under thousands united for abolition overivation. Though my death was untimely, my autobiography was read by multitudes internationally. My name?
A: Frederick Douglass
Q: Stripped from my mother I’ll never forget, sold into slavery my childhood was wrecked. At 20 I escaped dressed like a sailor man. My biography was the first known slave narrative that told what no one else can.
A: Olaudah Equiano
Q: We lived the horrors that abolitionists fought using wordy ammunition we wrought. Our stories exposed cruelty that few knew. we were former slaves that highlighted freedom’s overdue. What brutally honest narratives ensued?
A: Slave narratives
Q: My maimed body showed abolitionists what they were up against – such visual arguments proved invaluable in this war of words against slavery’s captains robust. Though my death was painful, who was I that turned firebrands into agitants disgusted?
A: Gordon aka “Whipped Peter”
More Riddles About Narratives and Stories
Q: We were most famous for publicizing stories of those enslaved, including perilous accounts of self liberation unveiled. Our society amplified voices of those craving emancipation as the cogent moral weapon to justify abolition’s culmination. Who marshalled these empowering slave proclamations?
A: American Anti-Slavery Society
Conclusion
Through coded songs, secret routes, and daring journeys under moonlight, the Underground Railroad connected enslaved people with a daring path to liberty. As these riddles show, the stories of this resistance movement highlight tremendous courage in the face of injustice. The codes, clues and secrets were necessary to protect heroic abolitionists who shepherded freedom seekers towards the light of emancipation. These tales of triumph over adversity continue inspiring future generations to fight oppression wherever it lives. Though times have changed, the universal desire for freedom and justice echoes strong around the world thanks to these original conductors who battled bondage and guide so many home.
