Constitution expressed similar positions on the matter. In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance and Article IV, section 2 of the U.S. But concern for property rights led to laws ordering the return of fugitive slaves. In addition, no laws in the newly formed United States required citizens to return escaped slaves to their owners. Pennsylvania followed in 1780, and all northern states had abolished slavery by 1804. For many American colonists, these ideals made them question the morality of slavery and gave rise to the abolitionist movement.Īfter the British were defeated, Vermont was the first to join the new United States of America with anti-slavery laws in 1777. For blacks, these ideals would change their lives and many fought in the American Revolution, hoping these rights would be extended to them, too. The war, however, followed the Enlightenment, where the concept of a person’s right to life, liberty and property was embraced and promoted. Prior to the American Revolution, slavery was legal in all parts of the British Empire. Anyone found guilty of assisting an escaped slave was subject to fine and imprisonment. law since they were legally considered property. During that time, assisting escaped slaves was considered an act of theft according to U.S. Most fugitive slaves traveled from the Deep South to Canada, but a small number traveled south to Mexico and the Caribbean. It spanned northern and southern states, stretching from Texas to Maine. The Underground Railroad was a network of people who helped fugitive slaves escape slavery beginning in the late 1700s until the end of the Civil War in 1865. Research and Biographical Form Instructions.

If you are interested in researching Underground Railroad activity in Iowa and have access to historical documents and primary sources, please review the research and biographical form instructions to learn how you can contribute to the project. Volunteers at the State Historical Society of Iowa have been researching Underground Railroad activity in Iowa since 2002. Researching Underground Railroad Activity Please contact us if you have questions about the Iowa Freedom Trail Project. The information is accessible at the Library and Archives Research Center at the State Historical Building in Des Moines. Grant funding ended in 2013, but volunteers continue to gather information from historical resources and compile it into a form containing general information, including biographical data, resource references, associated properties and researcher information. The Iowa Freedom Trail Project began in 2002 when the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom program provided grant funding to the Iowa Network to Freedom project, which researched people and places associated with the Underground Railroad in Iowa. National Register of Historic Places & Landmarks.Iowa Cultural & Entertainment DistrictsĪ A State Historical Society of Iowa - Secondary Navigation.

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