Fugitive Slaves

Escaping from Slavery

The danger and difficulty in escaping from slavery are hard to imagine. Most slaves were illiterate and had no money and few, if any, possessions. The color of their skin made them easy targets for those who would hunt them down and return them to their masters, often with the help of bloodhounds.

Many runaways had long distances to travel on foot before they were able to reach safety in a free state or in Canada. Not surprisingly, then, the vast majority of slaves who escaped from bondage were captured and returned to their masters. Most of these individuals were severely punished to serve as a lesson to others who might think of trying to escape. Despite the dangers, however, many black runaways managed to find their way north, into states that outlawed slavery.

Among Those Who Escaped

Because of the incredible physical challenge of the journey to freedom, most of the slaves who ran away were young men. One study that examined advertisements in newspapers in the early 1800s calling for the return of fugitive slaves noted that 76 percent of all fugitive slaves were younger than age thirty-five, and 89 percent were male.

Some of the men who escaped wrote narratives about their experiences and the difficulties they faced on the journey north. One of these, the Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, tells of the author's incredible escape packed in a shipping crate. Another, Fifty Years of Slavery, tells the story of a slave named Francis Frederic, who had always been kind to his master's dogs and thus was able to fool them into running past him when they were supposed to be following him.

Escape became easier for a time with the establishment of the Underground Railroad, a network of individuals and places that evolved over many years to help fugitive slaves on their journeys north. An escaped slave named Harriet Tubman was one of its most famous “conductors,” or guides, who risked their own lives on the Underground Railroad, returning to the South many times to help others escape. The “Railroad” helped as many as 70,000 individuals escape from slavery in the years between 1800 and 1865. Even with help, though, the journey was a grueling one. Small groups of runaways would travel at night, sometimes 10 to 20 miles from station to station, always at risk of being recaptured.

Disappointment and Increased Danger

Sadly, the freedom dreamed of by the fugitive slaves was often illusory. In many cases, life in the so-called free states was not much better for the escapees than it had been back on the Southern plantations. Segregation and discrimination were pervasive in many parts of the North, and blacks were often not allowed into skilled professions, so earning a living was difficult.

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