The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Enslaved people worked for no money. Their living spaces were poor. They could be beaten and whipped. They were treated like property, owned by someone else. Slave owners split husbands from wives, parents from children, brothers from sisters and sold them to different slave owners.
The Underground Railroad was created to help slaves escape these conditions. The Underground Railroad was secret and not highly organized. Many enslaved people ran away without any help. Fugitive slaves faced danger from wild animals, unsafe ground, and slave catchers. For the people who attempted to escape slavery, freedom was worth the danger. Owners saw slaves as property and anyone helping them was stealing from them.
At first, helping fugitive slaves was against the law only in states where there was slavery. However, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it against the law even in free states. Therefore some slaves had to make their way across the United States border into Canada in order to become free.
Take Notes
The escaping slaves and those who helped them were breaking the law. Do you think it is okay to break a law you believe is unfair? When and why? What do you think people can do to change laws, like the Fugitive Slave Act and slavery itself? Write your thoughts in two to three sentences below.
