US History

U.S. History Study Guide

©2018 of 194 The Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman Some Northerners worked vigorously to undermine the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, whether through legal tactics, organized social protest, or violent resistance. Controversial provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act prompted Northerners to resist its enforcement through violent protest, clandestine efforts to aid escaped slaves, and legal tactics such as personal liberty laws. During the 1850’s, nine Northern states passed personal liberty laws to counteract the Fugitive Slave Act. These state laws guaranteed all alleged fugitives the right to a trial by jury and to a lawyer, and they prohibited state jails from holding alleged fugitives. In terms of social resistance, Northern Vigilance Committees worked hard to protect escaped slaves, at times in conjunction with the Underground Railroad a network of safe houses and escorts throughout the North that helped escaped slaves to freedom. Harriet Tubman, a former slave, was instrumental in forming this network, and was sometimes referred to as “Moses.” (In the Bible, Moses led the Israelites to freedom.) Less systematic resistance came in the form of violent protest. Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom’s Cabin Such strong-armed resistance against the Fugitive Slave Act revealed that Northern abolitionist sentiment was rising. No event did more to encourage Northern abolitionism and sympathy for runaway slaves than the 1852 publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin , written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe wrote about slavery with grim reality, telling the story of a Black slave who is torn from his family, sold from place to place, and eventually whipped to death. Three hundred thousand copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin were sold in 1852, and 1.2 million had been sold by the summer of 1853. Dramatized versions of the story were produced at playhouses throughout the North, attracting audience members from all segments of society. 12.7 Election of 1852 As a symptom of the national division, the Whig party disintegrated during the 1850’s along North and South lines, and its 1852 presidential candidate fared badly. The Free Soil Party’s candidate also won little support. The winner was Democratic nominee Franklin Pierce. 12.8 Pierce Administration 1852-1856 Franklin Pierce was president at a critical time in American History. The country was becoming more polarized into Northern and Southern interests. Pierce sought to avoid the controversial slave issue and instead focused on expanding internationally and opening up international trade with Japan and abroad. The issue of slavery came again to the front and center of the national debate, with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Obviously, the nation was headed towards a confrontation, and Pierce's actions did little to stop the downward slide. Achieve Page 155

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