US History

Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

African Americans

Law and Government

This collection uses primary sources to explore the relationship between the Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

Teaching Guide: Exploring the Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act 

A map of the nineteenth-century Underground Railroad created in 2005. 

An excerpt from *Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman* by Sarah H. Bradford, 1869.

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.

A drawing called “Operations of the Fugitive-Slave Law.”

An 1850 political cartoon, “Effects of the Fugitive Slave Law,” showing four escaped slaves being recaptured by armed white men.

A poster calling for a meeting in Camillus, New York in 1852 to protest the Fugitive Slave Law.

A picture and narrative of Lear Green escaping slavery in a chest via the Underground Railroad, 1850s.

An excerpt from *The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom* by William M. Mitchell, 1860.

An excerpt from *A Woman's Life Work: Including Thirty Years' Service On the Underground Railroad and in The War* by Laura S. Haviland, 1888. 

Portraits of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee, 1859.

Resources

1. [Runaway Journeys](http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/landing.cfm?migration=2), In Motion: The African American Migration Experience, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. 
2. [Underground Railroad: The William Still Story](http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/shows/list/underground-railroad/home/), PBS. 
3. [The Fugitive Slave Law and Its Impact](http://library.syr.edu/digital/exhibits/u/undergroundrr/case2.htm), Syracuse University. 
4. [National Underground Railroad Freedom Center](http://freedomcenter.org). 
5. [Oh Freedom! Sought Under the Fugitive Slave Act](https://www.docsteach.org/activities/teacher/oh-freedom-sought-under-the-fugitive-slave-act), DocsTeach, US National Archives. 
6. [In Pursuit of Freedom: Crisis Decade](http://pursuitoffreedom.org/crisis-decade/), Brooklyn Historical Society, Weeksville Heritage Center, and Irondale Ensemble Project. 

Overview

The Underground Railroad (1850-1860) was an intricate network of people, safe places, and communities that were connected by land, rail, and maritime routes. It was developed by abolitionists and slaves as a means of escaping the harsh conditions in which African Americans were forced to live, and ultimately to assist them in gaining their freedom. Although securing one’s freedom was challenging, many enslaved persons escaped to free states in the North and to Canada. Free African Americans, however, faced the threat of being returned to a slaveholder as a result of the The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required that all escaped enslaved persons be returned, upon capture, to their masters. This primary source set provides teachers and students with resources that reveal the myriad sacrifices enslaved people made in order to gain their freedom, the effects of the Fugitive Slave Law on the lives of free African Americans, and the community that was built among abolitionists and enslaved people. 

English

The Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

underground-railroad-fugitive-slave-act-1850_03_b71f53f92d06ea3c874fa97f4518a765.jpg

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


Maria Weems escaping in male attire

The New York Public Library

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division. The New York Public Library

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

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Tips for Students

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