释义 |
the Underground Railroad phrase a secret system, used in the 19th century, by which slaves (= people who had been sold and forced to work) in US states where slavery was legal were helped to escape to places where there was no slavery: They told us the stories of some of the main figures in the Underground Railroad. Gerrit Smith was one of the most important financiers of the Underground Railroad. They came up with the idea of a museum devoted to the Underground Railroad. He acted as a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, finding shelter for escaping slaves. Spirituals and other songs sung in the field by enslaved people were often coded with secret information about the Underground Railroad. See also
undergroundadjectiveadverb(SECRET) |