Where did the slaves run away to?

Answer 1

At first they just ran to northern states, but when that became unsafe, they ran to Canada. After the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850, the slaves had to run all the way up to Canada. The Fugitive Slave Act allowed slave catchers to recapture slaves even in the free northern states. It also allowed fines to be passed to people who helped refugees. One of the reasons that the Civil War was started in 1861 was because of the Fugitive Slave Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Fillmore in 1850. When the Emancipation Proclamation was passed in 1863, granting all slaves their freedom, the Civil War was halfway finished, so the slaves weren't safe to leave and have their freedom because of the War. The Civil War was finished in 1865, and the Northern states won. By 1870, most slavery was abolished in the United States of America.