This collection uses primary sources to explore the Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

This site titled, "From Revolution to Reconstruction," provides excerpts from the text of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, part of the Compromise of 1850.

Fifth graders will understand the Fugitive Slave Act and its significance, especially as it relates to the Underground Railroad.

A learning module that begins with "Margaret Garner: Defying the Fugitive Slave Act" by Levi Coffin, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned...

A learning module that begins with "Fugitive Slave Act of 1793" by The United States Congress, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Set includes an overview, primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide.

What would your life be like if you had to always be running from people who wanted to capture you and make you their slave? The following documents tell the story of William and Ellen Craft who fled from slavery in 1848. View the...

This activity includes primary sources from the official records of the U.S. District Court at Boston that tell the story of William and Ellen Craft, a young couple from Macon, GA, who escaped to freedom in Boston in 1848. Students will...

Discover interesting facts about the 1793 and 1850 Fugitive Slave Acts that guaranteed the right of an owner to recover an escaped slave.

See why the Fugitive Slave Act was such a contentious, divisive law that exacerbated tensions between North and South.

The extradition of Anthony Burns as a fugitive slave was the most memorable case of the kind that has occurred since the adoption of the Federal Constitution. It was memorable for the place and for the time of its occurrence; the place...

From a chapter on " Troubled Times: the Tumultuous 1850s," this section explains the contested issues that led to the Compromise of 1850 and describes and analyzes the reactions to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.

A digital collection of advertisements for runaway and captured slaves in the period before the American Civil War. In addition, there are historical documents related to slavery. Gives the option of browsing or doing a detailed search....

Descriptions of fugitive slave communities in Canada and comments from those who escaped to these locations as well as welcoming statements to fugitive slaves in the mid-nineteenth century.

Students will examine several documents related to the life of Solomon Northup, whose life story is told in his autobiography Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841...

Slave narratives were an effective tool to spread information about what slavery was really like. Perhaps the most widely read literature about slavery happened to be written by a white woman, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Read about the impact...

Describes the events leading up to the start of the American Civil War. Looks at clashes between pro- and anti-slavery groups, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the fight over California, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act,...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Players take on the role of Lucy, a 14-year-old slave in Kentucky. As they navigate her escape and journey to Ohio, they discover that life in the "free" North is dangerous and difficult. In 1850, the...

Solomon Northup was a free man of color who was sold into slavery. Students will read excerpts from his autobiography and analyze documents based on his life. These documents included slave manifests and census documents.

This lesson offers a way to teach about the Underground Railroad by using maps and discussion about the problems fugitive slaves would encounter while trying to escape.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart contains information about the renewed debate over the spread of slavery after the Mexican War. It describes the Wilmot Proviso, popular sovereignty, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive...

A site that chronicles through documents the accomplishments of African-Americans, both slave and free, from colonial times through the Civil War.

Read about the essential repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which had established which states could be slave and which would be free for thirty years, with the rancorous passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. See who supported it and why,...

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) highlights two fugitive from labor cases dealing with slavery -- specifically Henry Garnett and Moses Honner. The content of the lesson provided here compares these cases to...