The Underground Railway was
a) never effective at freeing slaves because of the internal bickering that constantly took place among its leaders
b) only active for 3-4 years before it was discovered and shut down
c) effective at removing slaves but often re-enslaved the freedman once they got North
d) successful in helping approximately 50,000 slaves escape from bondage

Question

The Underground Railway was 
    a) never effective at freeing slaves because of the internal bickering that constantly took place among its leaders
    b) only active for 3-4 years before it was discovered and shut down
    c) effective at removing slaves but often re-enslaved the freedman once they got North
    d) successful in helping approximately 50,000 slaves escape from bondage

SmokeyBrown · Answer

I don't know how much "internal bickering" occurred, but it would be wrong that the Underground Railroad was "never effective at freeing slaves", so a) is out
I'm a little spotty on the details, but I don't think the Underground Railroad was ever discovered, until slavery already ended? It was definitely active for more than 4 years, so we can cross out b) as well.
Slavery was not practiced in the North, so slaves would not be returned to slaves in the North, unless they were captured somehow and returned South; anyway, it's not like the Railroad itself "re-enslaved" anyone, so c) is out.
That leaves us with choice d). The actual numbers of slaves who were freed through the Railroad is difficult to pinpoint, but estimates range from 10000 to 100000, so this is a possible answer. Certainly better than the other 3, so I'd go with this choice.