the stationmaster would send a message, often
coded, to the next station, alerting the agent
there that the fugitives were on their way. Strict
secrecy had to be observed because rewards were
offered for the capture of runaway slaves, and
professional slave catchers posed a constant
threat. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required
that captured slaves be returned to their owners.
The act also imposed penalties, including six
months’ imprisonment, for anyone who aided a
runaway slave. Catherine Clinton notes the case
of Jonathan Walker, a white sea captain who was
an abductor in the Underground Railroad. Con-
victed in Florida in 1844 of aiding runaway
slaves, he was locked into a pillory and pelted
with rotten eggs. He also served nearly a year in
jail and was branded on his right hand with the
letters S. S., standing for ‘‘Slave Stealer.’’ ClintonCOMPARE
&
CONTRAST 1850s:At the end of the decade, there are
3,953,760 black slaves in the American South.
Although the abolition movement is gaining
strength, theDred Scott v. SanfordSupreme
Court case in 1857 is a setback. The Court
rules that no black person can become a citizen
of the United States. The ruling affirms the
legality of slavery.
1960s:The civil rights movement leads to
more opportunities for African Americans.
The Civil Rights Act, which bans racial segre-
gation in schools, the workplace, and public
places, is passed in 1964. The Voting Rights
Act, which removes obstacles designed to pre-
vent African Americansfrom voting, is passed
in 1965.
Today:Although the African American com-
munity faces many challenges, there is an
established black middle class, and African
Americans hold senior positions in govern-
ment and business.
1850s:The vast majority of African Ameri-
cans in the United States live in the South. At
the end of the decade, there are 226,152 Afri-
can Americans in the North, and they are all
free. In the South, there are 4,215,514 African
Americans, including 261,918 free blacks.
1960s:This decade is the last of the Great
Migration, which refers to the migration of
African Americans from the rural South to
the urban North. The Great Migration began
in 1890. Sometimes the period from 1940 to1970 is known as the Second Migration, in
which about 4.5 million African Americans
move from the South to the North, West, and
Midwest. More than 80 percent of African
Americans live in cities. Fifty-three percent
still live in the South.
Today:In what is called the New Great
Migration, African Americans are returning
to the South, reversing the historical trend of
over one hundred years. The return is largely
due to economic growth and improved race
relations in the South.
1850s:The fight against slavery produces
many African American leaders and heroes,
including Harriet Tubman; Frederick Dou-
glass, a former slave who escaped in 1836
and became an abolitionist, statesman, and
reformer; and William Still, a freeborn man
who was a civil rights activist in Philadelphia
and a conductor on the Underground Rail-
road, helping sixty slaves a month to escape.
1960s:Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist
clergyman from Georgia, leads the civil rights
movement and becomes a hero to millions of
Americans, black and white. He wins the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 but is assassinated
in 1968.
Today:In 2009, Barack Obama becomes the
first African American president of the
United States. African Americans are inspired
by his success.Runagate Runagate