Christiana Resistance — Armed Black Defense of Freedom

At Christiana, Pennsylvania, a group of free Black men led by William Parker resisted a Maryland slave-catcher's attempt to recapture freedom-seekers under the Fugitive Slave Act. The enslavers' party was repulsed; Maryland slaveholder Edward Gorsuch was killed. The federal government tried 38 men for treason — all were acquitted. The Christiana Resistance became a powerful symbol of organized Black armed self-defense.