A secret network of routes and safe houses used by enslaved people to escape to freedom in the North and Canada.

• A. Railroad
• B. Underground Railroad
• C. Cotton Gin
• D. Telegraph

Answer: (B)

Underground Railroad refers to a secret network of routes and safe houses that enslaved people used to escape to freedom in the North and Canada. It wasn’t a real railroad; it was a clandestine system—trustworthy helpers, hiding places, and routes—that moved people toward liberty, often at night, with the aid of abolitionists and free Black communities. This network operated mainly in the early to mid-1800s and included famous conductors like Harriet Tubman who guided fugitives along the way. The other options describe things that aren’t about helping people escape slavery: a railroad is public transportation, a cotton gin is a machine for processing cotton, and the telegraph is a means of long-distance communication.