1845 Seventy-five slaves from three Maryland counties arm themselves and march toward Pennsylvania. Many are killed and thirty-one are recaptured. 1848 Henry Highland Garnet reissues David Walker's Appeal and adds his own address to it. Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery. 1850 Fugitive Slave Act is passed by Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850.
Runaway slaves are no longer free once they reach a free state.
They have to flee to Canada or Mexico where slavery is illegal. Harriet Tubman makes her first trip back to the South as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Thousands of runaway slaves are helped to freedom via the Underground Railroad. 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act repeals Missouri Compromise on 1820, and the Northern Territory is opened to slavery. Republican party is organized.