Fugitive Slave
The phenomenon of slaves running away and seeking to regain their freedom is as old as the institution of slavery itself. In the history of slavery in the United States, "fugitive slaves" (or runaway slaves) were slaves who had escaped from their master to travel to a place where slavery was banned or illegal. Many went to northern territories including Pennsylvania and Massachusetts until the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed. Because of this, fugitive slaves had to leave the country, traveling to Canada or Mexico. During the Civil War many slavery advocates stated that most of the slaves stayed on the plantation rather than escape, but in fact there were half a million who ran away, which is about one in five. This is a very high proportion considering many of the slaves did not know where to go or what they would need to survive .
Read more about Fugitive Slave: History, Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Harriet Tubman
Famous quotes related to fugitive slave:
“What should concern Massachusetts is not the Nebraska Bill, nor the Fugitive Slave Bill, but her own slaveholding and servility. Let the State dissolve her union with the slaveholder.... Let each inhabitant of the State dissolve his union with her, as long as she delays to do her duty.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It is by a mathematical point only that we are wise, as the sailor or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but that is sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Is this what all these soldiers, all this training, have been for these seventy-nine years past? Have they been trained merely to rob Mexico and carry back fugitive slaves to their masters?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)