Underground Railroad: The William Still Story

Fugitive Slave Act

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was the last attempt by the government in Washington to appease the southern slave states and shut down the Underground Railroad. It required every state and territory in the United States to assist in the return of fugitive slaves and gave slave owners the right to seek them out even in states that had abolished slavery.

Fugitive Slave Act

2m 15s

  • Underground Railroad: The William Still Story: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Underground Railroad: The William Still Story

    S1 E1 - 55m 28s

    Underground Railroad: The Williams Still Story is the story of a humble Philadelphia clerk who risked his life shepherding runaway slaves to freedom in the tumultuous years leading up to America’s Civil War. William Still was the director of a complex network of abolitionists, sympathizers and safe houses that stretched from Philadelphia to what is now Southern Ontario.

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