According to census reports for the years 1855 to 1865, one thousand slaves fled each year; however, that number was a small fraction of the total.
Slaves in the deep South usually did not run away to the North because it was too far. Instead, they hid in the wilderness. There, groups of runaways that became known as maroon communities were formed.
The North was easier to reach for slaves who fled from Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia. Many were helped by the Underground Railroad.
