Underground Railroad Operators Face Death, Prosecution, Violence

Underground Railroad conductors face lethal danger throughout the 1840s–50s. Harriet Tubman begins her work in 1849, making approximately 13 missions and liberating roughly 70 people. Conductor Calvin Fairbank is imprisoned for 17 years total for helping enslaved people escape. Thomas Garrett of Wilmington, DE is fined into bankruptcy in 1848 — he vows to keep going and does.