Also American
Struggle & ResistanceAchievement & Excellence

1850s

1850–1859

The Fugitive Slave Act radicalizes the North while the Underground Railroad reaches its height.

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Oppression
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

A federal law endangering every Black American.

Resistance
The Underground Railroad at its height

Harriet Tubman and a network to freedom.

Zoom in — years

1850
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1851
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1852
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1853
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1854
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1855
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1856
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1857
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1858
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1859
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Key events

  1. September 18, 1850
    The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

    A federal law compelling citizens to capture escapees — radicalizing the North and endangering all Black Americans.

  2. December 1850
    Harriet Tubman escapes and returns

    After escaping slavery, Tubman makes repeated trips back via the Underground Railroad, freeing dozens.

  3. March 6, 1857
    Dred Scott v. Sandford

    The Supreme Court rules that Black people are not citizens and have "no rights which the white man was bound to respect."

  4. October 16, 1859
    John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry

    John Brown's failed raid to arm the enslaved pushes the nation toward civil war.

  5. March 20, 1852
    Uncle Tom's Cabin

    Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel galvanizes Northern antislavery opinion.

Resources from this period