Brooklyn Museum - A Ride for Liberty -- The Fugitive Slaves - Eastman Johnson - overall

In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th centuries to describe people who fled

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and

1850 Events January–March * January 29 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the United States Congress. * January 31 – The University of Rochester is founded in Rochester, New York. * January – Sacramento, Ca ...

. Such people are also called freedom seekers to avoid implying that the enslaved person had committed a crime and that the slaveholder was the injured party. Generally, they tried to reach states or territories where slavery was banned, including

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, or, until 1821,

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...

. Most slave laws tried to control slave travel by requiring them to carry official passes if traveling without an enslaver. Passage of the

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was a law passed by the 31st United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers. The Act was one ...

increased penalties against runaway slaves and those who aided them. Because of this, some freedom seekers left the United States altogether, traveling to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Approximately 100,000 enslaved Americans escaped to freedom.

Laws

Beginning in 1643, slave laws were enacted in

Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 1776, during the Re ...

, initially among the

New England Confederation The United Colonies of New England, commonly known as the New England Confederation, was a confederal alliance of the New England colonies of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth Colony, Plymouth, Saybrook Colony, Saybrook (Conn ...

and then by several of the original

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

. In 1705, the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

passed a measure to keep bondspeople from escaping north into

Over time, the states began to divide into

slave states and free states In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were prohibited. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave ...

. Maryland and Virginia passed laws to reward people who captured and returned enslaved people to their enslavers. Slavery was abolished in five states by the time of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. At that time,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

had become free states.

Constitution

Legislators from the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

were concerned that free states would protect people who fled slavery. The

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

, ratified in 1788, never uses the words "slave" or "slavery" but recognized its existence in the so-called fugitive slave clause ( Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3), the three-fifths clause, and the prohibition on prohibiting the importation of "such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit" ( Article I, Section 9).

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793

The

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was an Act of the United States Congress to give effect to the Fugitive Slave Clause of the U.S. Constitution ( Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3), which was later superseded by the Thirteenth Amendment, and to al ...

is the first of two federal laws that allowed for runaway slaves to be captured and returned to their enslavers. Congress passed the measure in 1793 to enable agents for enslavers and state governments, including free states, to track and capture bondspeople. They were also able to penalize individuals with a $500 () fine if they assisted slaves in their escape. Slave hunters were obligated to obtain a court-approved affidavit in order to apprehend an enslaved individual, giving rise to the formation of an intricate network of safe houses commonly known as the Underground Railroad.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

The

, part of the

Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that temporarily defused tensions between slave and free states during the years leading up to the American Civil War. Designe ...

, was a federal law that declared that all fugitive slaves should be returned to their enslavers. Because the slave states agreed to have

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

enter as a free state, the free states agreed to pass the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Congress passed the act on September 18, 1850, and repealed it on June 28, 1864. The act strengthened the federal government's authority in capturing fugitive slaves. The act authorized federal marshals to require free state citizen bystanders to aid in the capturing of runaway slaves. Many free state citizens perceived the legislation as a way in which the federal government overstepped its authority because the legislation could be used to force them to act against abolitionist beliefs. Many free states eventually passed "personal liberty laws", which prevented the kidnapping of alleged runaway slaves; however, in the court case known as '' Prigg v. Pennsylvania'', the personal liberty laws were ruled unconstitutional because the capturing of fugitive slaves was a federal matter in which states did not have the power to interfere. Many free state citizens were outraged at the criminalization of actions by

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

operators and abolitionists who helped people escape slavery. It is considered one of the causes of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Congress repealed the Fugitive Acts of 1793 and 1850 on June 28, 1864.

State laws

Many states tried to nullify the acts or prevent the capture of escaped enslaved people by setting up laws to protect their rights. The most notable is the Massachusetts Liberty Act. This act was passed to keep escaped slaves from being returned to their enslavers through abduction by federal marshals or bounty hunters. Wisconsin and Vermont also enacted legislation to bypass the federal law. Abolitionists became more involved in Underground Railroad operations.

Pursuit

Evasion

In order to throw off the tracking dogs off the trail, escaped slaves rubbed turpentine on their shoes, or scattered "soil from a graveyard" on their tracks. Another technique for scent masking was the use of wild onions or other pungent weeds.

Advertisements and rewards

Enslavers were outraged when an enslaved person was found missing, many of them believing that slavery was good for the enslaved person, and if they ran away, it was the work of

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

, with one enslaver arguing that "They are indeed happy, and if let alone would still remain so". (A new name was invented for the supposed mental illness of an enslaved person that made them want to run away:

drapetomania Drapetomania was a proposed mental illness that, in 1851, American physician Samuel A. Cartwright hypothesized as the cause of enslaved Africans fleeing captivity. This hypothesis was based on the belief that slavery was such an improvement upo ...

.) Enslavers would put up flyers, place advertisements in newspapers, offer rewards, and send out posses to find them. Under the Fugitive Slave Act, enslavers could send federal marshals into free states to kidnap them. The law also brought

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for a bail bondsman who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as a bail enforcement agent or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated ...

s into the business of returning enslaved people to their enslavers; a former enslaved person could be brought back into a slave state to be sold back into slavery if they were without freedom papers. In 1851, there was a case of a black coffeehouse waiter whom federal marshals kidnapped on behalf of John Debree, who claimed to be the man's enslaver.

Capture

Enslavers often harshly punished those they successfully recaptured, such as by amputating limbs, whipping, branding, and hobbling. Individuals who aided fugitive slaves were charged and punished under this law. In the case of '' Ableman v. Booth'', the latter was charged with aiding Joshua Glover's escape in Wisconsin by preventing his capture by federal marshals. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was unconstitutional, requiring states to violate their laws. ''Ableman v. Booth'' was appealed by the federal government to the US Supreme Court, which upheld the act's constitutionality.

Hiding out, living free

Fugitives were not necessarily "on the run," they were simply not under the control of their legal owner or employer. The maroon communities of the Great Dismal Swamp, the Black Seminole communities of Florida, and the woodlands of South Carolina sheltered free-living fugitive slaves. Some fugitives even managed to live "free" in cities, at least for a time. For instance, one runaway was found living in the steeple of the Baton Rouge Methodist Church where his makeshift apartment included "kitchen furniture, extra clothes, dried beef, a revolver, and a knife."

The Underground Railroad

The

was a network of black and white abolitionists between the late 18th century and the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

who helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom. Members of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

(Quakers),

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, Methodists, and other religious sects helped in operating the Underground Railroad. In 1786,

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

complained that a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

tried to free one of his slaves. In the early 1800s, Isaac T. Hopper, a Quaker from Philadelphia, and a group of people from North Carolina established a network of stations in their local area. In 1831, when Tice David was captured going into Ohio from Kentucky, his enslaver blamed an "Underground Railroad" who helped in the escape. Eight years later, while being tortured for his escape, a man named Jim said he was going north along the "underground railroad to Boston." Fellow enslaved people often helped those who had run away. They gave signals, such as the lighting of a particular number of lamps, or the singing of a particular song on Sunday, to let escaping people know if it was safe to be in the area or if there were slave hunters nearby. If the freedom seeker stayed in a slave cabin, they would likely get food and learn good hiding places in the woods as they made their way north. Hiding places called "stations" were set up in private homes, churches, and schoolhouses in border states between slave and free states. John Brown had a secret room in his tannery to give escaped enslaved people places to stay on their way. People who maintained the stations provided food, clothing, shelter, and instructions about reaching the next "station". Often, enslaved people had to make their way through southern slave states on their own to reach them. SlaveRewardWashington1858

The network extended throughout the United States—including

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, and

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

—and into Canada and Mexico. The Underground Railroad was initially an escape route that would assist fugitive enslaved African Americans in arriving in the Northern states; however, with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, as well as other laws aiding the Southern states in the capture of runaway slaves, it became a mechanism to reach Canada. Canada was a haven for enslaved African-Аmericans because it had already abolished slavery by 1783. Black Canadians were also provided equal protection under the law. The well-known Underground Railroad "conductor" Harriet Tubman is said to have led approximately 300 enslaved people to Canada. In some cases, freedom seekers immigrated to Europe and the

Caribbean islands Most of the Caribbean countries are islands in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest islands include Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Some of the smaller islands are referred to as a ''rock'' or ''reef.'' ''I ...

Harriet Tubman

Richard Ansdell - The Hunted Slaves - Google Art Project

One of the most notable runaway slaves of

American history The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

and conductors of the Underground Railroad is

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. After escaping slavery, Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, us ...

. Born into slavery in

Dorchester County, Maryland Dorchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 census, the population was 32,531. Its county seat is Cambridge. The county was formed in 1669 and named for the Earl of Dorset, a family friend of the Calvert ...

, around 1822, Tubman as a young adult, escaped from her enslaver's plantation in 1849. Between 1850 and 1860, she returned to the South numerous times to lead parties of other enslaved people to freedom, guiding them through the lands she knew well. She aided hundreds of people, including her parents, in their escape from slavery. Tubman followed north–south flowing rivers and the

north star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude t ...

to make her way north. She preferred to guide runaway slaves on Saturdays because newspapers were not published on Sundays, which gave her a one-day head-start before runaway advertisements would be published. She preferred the winters because the nights were longer when it was the safest to travel. Tubman wore disguises. She sang songs in different tempos, such as ''Go Down Moses'' and ''Bound For the Promised Land'', to indicate whether it was safe for freedom seekers to come out of hiding. Many people called her the "

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

of her people." During the

, Tubman also worked as a spy, cook, and a nurse.

Notable people

Notable people who gained or assisted others in gaining freedom via the Underground Railroad include: * Henry "Box" Brown *

John Brown (abolitionist) John Brown (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was an American abolitionist in the decades preceding the Civil War. First reaching national prominence in the 1850s for his radical abolitionism and fighting in Bleeding Kansas, Brown was captured ...

, who would later lead the 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry. He had a hidden room in his tannery building for fugitive slaves. * Owen Brown, father of John Brown * Elizabeth Margaret Chandler *

Levi Coffin Levi Coffin Jr. (October 28, 1798 – September 16, 1877) was an American Quaker, Republican, abolitionist, farmer, businessman and humanitarian. An active leader of the Underground Railroad in Indiana and Ohio, some unofficially called Coffin ...

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

* Calvin Fairbank *

Thomas Garrett Thomas Garrett (August 21, 1789 – January 25, 1871) was an American abolitionist and assisted in the Underground Railroad movement before the American Civil War. He helped more than 2,500 African Americans escape slavery. For his effort ...

* Shields Green * Laura Smith Haviland *

Lewis Hayden Lewis Hayden (December 2, 1811 – April 7, 1889) escaped slavery in Kentucky with his family and reached Canada. He established a school for African Americans before moving to Boston, Massachusetts. There he became an Abolitionism in the United ...

Josiah Henson Josiah Henson (June 15, 1789 – May 5, 1883) was an author, abolitionist, and minister. Born into slavery, in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland, he escaped to Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1830, and founded a settlement and laborer's sch ...

* Isaac Hopper * Roger Hooker Leavitt *

Samuel J. May Samuel Joseph May (September 12, 1797 – July 1, 1871) was an American reformer during the nineteenth century who championed education, women's rights, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolition of slavery. May argued on behalf of all ...

* Dangerfield Newby * John Parker * John Wesley Posey * John Rankin * Alexander Milton Ross * David Ruggles * Samuel Seawell * James Lindsay Smith *

William Still William Still (October 7, 1819 – July 14, 1902) was an African-American abolitionist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a conductor of the Underground Railroad and was responsible for aiding and assisting at least 649 slaves to freedom ...

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Bomefree; November 26, 1883) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women's rights, and Temperance movement, alcohol temperance. Truth was ...

* Charles Augustus Wheaton

Communities

Colonial America *

** Fort Mose *

British Florida The history of Florida can be traced to when the first Paleo-Indians began to inhabit the peninsula as early as 14,000 years ago. They left behind artifacts and archeological remains. Florida's written history begins with the arrival of European ...

Negro Fort Negro Fort was a short-lived fortification built by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812, in a remote part of what was at the time Spanish Florida. It was intended to support a never-realized British attack on the U.S. via its southwest b ...

United States * List of Freedmen's towns Civil War *

Camp Greene (Washington, D.C.) Camp Greene was the site of a training camp for the 1st United States Colored Infantry Regiment and other Colored Troops on Mason's Island, now known as Theodore Roosevelt Island, in Washington, D.C. The island was also a refugee camp for freedom ...

- Civil war camp * Theodore Roosevelt Island - Civil war camp Canada * Africville - Nova Scotia * Birchtown - Nova Scotia * Dawn settlement - Ontario * Elgin settlement - Ontario * Fort Malden - Ontario * Queen's Bush - Ontario Mexico *

Mascogos The Mascogos (also known as ''negros mascagos'') are an Afro-Mexicans, Afro-descendant group in Coahuila, Mexico. Centered on the town of El Nacimiento in Múzquiz Municipality, the group are descendants of Black Seminoles escaping the threat of ...

- El Nacimiento in Múzquiz Municipality

References

Sources

External links

Maap.columbia.edu

Freedom on the Move (FOTM), a database of Fugitives from American Slavery

Query.nytimes.com

Wicourts.gov

"Millard Fillmore on the Fugitive Slave and Kansas-Nebraska Acts: Original Letter"
Shapell Manuscript Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Fugitive Slave 19th century in the United States 19th century in Canada Escapees from American detention Slavery in the United States Canada–United States border Underground Railroad