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The Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

An 1872 drawing of Maria Weems, an African American woman who escaped slavery in 1855 wearing male attire.

An 1872 drawing of Maria Weems, an African American woman who escaped slavery in 1855 wearing male attire.

Citation Information: Still, William, “Maria Weems escaping in male attire,” Digital Public Library of America, http://dp.la/item/b71f53f92d06ea3c874fa97f4518a765.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Courtesy of The New York Public Library.

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Item 3 of 15 in the Primary Source Set
The Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

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An 1872 drawing of Maria Weems, an African American woman who escaped slavery in 1855 wearing male attire.

A 1922 drawing of Ellen Craft, who escaped slavery in 1848 while disguised as her master.

An excerpt from Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom or the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery by William Craft, 1860.

A broadside announcing the Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850.

An excerpt from The Fugitive Slave Law and its Victims, an 1861 antislavery book listing cases of individuals targeted by the Fugitive Slave Law.

“Leap of the Fugitive Slave,” an 1880 drawing of a woman leaping to her death rather than be returned to her master.

These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

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