Black History Quiz

What did Clint Smith initially imagine the Underground Railroad to be?

• A vast network of steam engines and tunnels

• A group of abolitionists working together

• A metaphorical concept with no physical form

• A series of safe houses across the South

Who is known as the Father of the Underground Railroad?

• William Still

• Frederick Douglass

• Harriet Tubman

• Samuel Cartwright

What did the Underground Railroad use to describe its components?

• Train infrastructure language

• Maritime symbols

• Agricultural metaphors

• Military terminology

How did Frederick Douglass want the Underground Railroad to be perceived?

• As a covert and secretive endeavor

• As a government-funded project

• As a myth to scare slave owners

• As a public and well-known operation

What was the main purpose of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850?

• To establish the Underground Railroad as a legal entity

• To require the return of escaped slaves to their owners

• To provide freedom to all escaped slaves

• To abolish slavery in the northern states

What did William Still's records become?

• A book known as The Underground Railroad Records

• A collection of government documents

• A series of newspaper articles

• A novel

What misconception did Clint Smith have about the number of people who escaped through the Underground Railroad?

• He thought only a few hundred people used it

• He believed millions of enslaved people escaped

• He assumed it was mostly used by white abolitionists

• He thought it was a failure and hardly used

What did Samuel Cartwright believe was a disease causing slaves to run away?

• Dysentery

• Malaria

• Cholera

• Drapetomania

Besides the North, where else did many enslaved people attempt to escape to?

• The Caribbean, Spanish Florida, Native American communities, and Mexico

• Asia

• Europe

• South America

What did Clint Smith reflect on regarding enslaved people who did not escape?

• They lacked the courage to escape

• They were unaware of the Underground Railroad

• They were content with their lives

• They were part of a system that threatened them with violence