Defying the System of Slavery

1. Defying the System of Slavery By: Sarah and Brandon

2. Fugitive Slave Act • Any runaway slave who was caught in the North was obligated to be returned back to their owners • Fugitives were not entitled to a trial by jury • Could not testify on their own behalf Statement by slave owner was all required to have a slave returned -Judges $10 for runaway slave $5 for free slave

3. “The colored men’s rights are less than those of a jackass. No man can take away a jackass without submitting the matter to twelve men in any part of this country. A black man may be carried away without any reference to a jury. It is only necessary to claim him, and that some villain should swear to his identity. There is more protection there for a horse, for a donkey, or anything, rather than a colored man.” -Frederick Douglas

4. Northern Resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act • Organized vigilance committees • Send endangered African Americans to safety in Canada • Personal liberty laws • Nine states passed • Forbade imprisonment of runaway slaves • Guaranteed jury trials • Northern Lawyers dragged trials out (3 or 4 years) • Increases slave catcher’s expenses

6. Underground Railroad • Secret network of people who would aid fugitive slaves in their escape • Conductors hid fugitives in secret tunnels and false cupboards -Provided slaves food and clothing

7. Harriet Tubman • Most famous conductor • Born a slave • Brain damage from plantation owner • Hit on head by lead weight • Lost consciousness on daily basis • Increased strength to do tasks men couldn’t do • 1849- made break for freedom after her owner died • Became conductor • Made 19 trips back to south • Helped 300 slaves flee to freedom

8. “In the woods I lived on nothing… I stayed in the hollow of a big popular tree for seven months… I suffered mighty bad with the cold and for something to eat. One time a snake come to the tree… and I took my axe and chopped him in two. It was… the poisonest kind of snake we have. While in the woods all my thoughts was how to get away to a free country.” –Harry Grimes

9. Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe • Instant bestseller • Delivered message that slavery was not just a political contest, but also a great moral struggle • About a girl who ran away from her slave owner with her infant son in her arms • Uncle Tom was sold and whipped to death by the new owner • Northerner abolitionists increased protests against Fugitive Slave Act • Southerners felt like it was a personal attack towards them

11. Video Clips • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5gLVulWa4s • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60oFmPwLz8U

12. Works Cited • Danzer, Gerald A. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. Print. • http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/online/2004/grade8/ss/q32.jpg • http://www.letsgetfreethebook.com/jurorsforjustice/images/fill-fugitiveslaveact.jpg • http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0Qh0lOPyrZk/TH05D7GH6xI/AAAAAAAAAek/r4quw9Nnnxs/s1600/01-28-2010-frederick-douglass.jpg • http://hunt-barronclasswiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/underground_map.jpg/33143555/underground_map.jpg • http://housedivided.dickinson.edu/ugrr/map_images/fugitives28_use.jpg • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Harriet_Tubman_cropped.jpg • http://www.47thnewyork.com/images/uncle_toms_cabin.jpg • http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/african-american-art/uncle-tom-cabin.jpg