Anti-slavery Events

The underground railroad was an organized escape plan for fugitive slaves to escape to free states or Canada. This event started in the early 1830's and ended around 1860.

Harriet Tubman was the famous leader for making trips back and forth helping get other slaves out. It is estimated that over 100,000 slaves escaped during this event.

Uncle Toms cabin was a novel written in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe. She was a teacher at the Hartford Female Academy. Abraham Lincoln greeted her as the "little lady who started a war". Her book was about slave named Tom and his journey.

The Wilmot Proviso of 1846 was a bill put before the House of Representatives during the Mexican war. It was a proposal to prohibit slavery in the territory acquired by the U.S. at the end of the Mexican War. In the election of 1848 the Democratic Party ignored the Wilmot Proviso, however the Republican Party accepted the terms of the Proviso which excluded slavery from new territories.

The Nat Turner rebellion was one of the most deadly slave revolts, resulting in dozens of deaths. The cultural legacy of the revolt is still vibrant: the revolt remains the clearest example of overt resistance in the United States to the systems of slavery. Slaves showed no mercy and slave owners feared them.

Harpers Ferry was a group led by John Brown on October 16th, 1859. When John and his men arrived they captured high ranking citizens and took control of the federal armory and arsenal. Brown hoped that slaves would join in the rebellion and spread the weapons to other slaves and freedom fighters across the country.