This was a primary grievance cited by the Union during the American Civil War,[16] and the perception that Northern States ignored the fugitive slave law was a major justification for secession. According to Still, messages were often encoded so that they could be understood only by those active in the railroad. Indiana: Crossroads of Freedom! Appleby, a celebrated mariner, facilitated the conveyance of several fugitive from various Lake Erie ports to Fort Malden. Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape, at first to maroon communities in remote or rugged terrain on the edge of settled areas. The purpose for its development was to tell the story of the struggle for freedom in the United States through exhibits and programs that focus on America's battle to rid itself of the ugly scourge of slavery and treat all its citizens with respect and dignity. These included Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) and Vancouver Island, where Governor James Douglas encouraged Black immigration because of his opposition to slavery. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. The locations in this program include National Park units, as well as locations with a verifiable connection to the Underground Railroad. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. Under the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, officials from free states were required to assist slaveholders or their agents who recaptured fugitives. Many African Americans, including some who had escaped from slavery, lived openly in the community, especially before the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Act. Florida's Little-known Underground Railroad Was the Escape Route Taken by Slaves Who Fled to the State in the 1700s and Established America's First Black Town", "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro", "Avalon Project – Confederate States of America – Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union", "History – National Underground Railroad Freedom Center", "The most famous abductor on the Underground Railroad", "Underground Railroad - Black History - HISTORY.com", "Arrival of the Black Loyalists: Saint John's Black Community", "Unravelling the Myth of Quilts and the Underground Railroad", "Black History-From Slavery to Settlement", "Letters: Underground Railroad site threatened in Montco", "Aboard the Underground Railroad" – Boston African American NHS, "For the People: A Newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Association v.8 number 1 Spring 2006, Springfield, Illinois", "Mary Meachum and the Underground Railroad", "The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History", "Actions - H.R.1635 - 105th Congress (1997-1998): National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998", "Management - Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)", "Harriet Tubman National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)", "The 2017 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Fiction", "Part 4: 1831–1865 Narrative, The Underground Railroad", "Documentary Evidence is Missing on Underground Railroad Quilts", "New Jersey's Underground Railroad Myth-Buster: Giles Wright is on a Mission to Fine Tune Black History", "Putting it in Perspective: The Symbolism of Underground Railroad quilts", "Underground Railroad Quilts & Abolitionist Fairs", National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Underground Railroad Research Institute at Georgetown College, Underground Railroad in Buffalo and Upstate New York, Newspaper articles and clippings about the Underground Railroad at Newspapers.com, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park, Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, The Railroad to Freedom: A Story of the Civil War, List of Union Civil War monuments and memorials, List of memorials to the Grand Army of the Republic, List of Confederate monuments and memorials, Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials. John Rankin House 6152 Rankin RoadJohn Rankin HouseRipley, OH 45167Ph 937.392.1627. Slavery in Canada as a whole had been in rapid decline after an 1803 court ruling, and was finally abolished outright in 1834. The quilts were placed one at a time on a fence as a means of nonverbal communication to alert escaping slaves.

Use these resources to teach more about significant figures in the abolition movement, the causes of the Civil War, and how slavery sustained the agricultural economy in the United States for centuries. Eells was arrested and charged with harboring and secreting a fugitive slave under the Illinois Criminal Code. www.castellaniartmuseum.org/North American Black Historical Museum and Cultural Centre277 King StreetAmherstburg, ON Canada N9V 2C7Ph 519.736.5433 or Toll Free: 800.713.6336.