2. OBJECTIVES: Students will get a knowledge on which states were free
of slavery and how those people fought to be free.
The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was an enslaved man owned by an army doctor. His owner moved
often, and Scott traveled with him. For a time, they lived in Illinois, a free state.
Then they lived inWisconsin, a free territory. After his owner died, Scott went to
court to try to win his freedom. He argued that he should be free because he had
once lived on free land.
Disagreements Over Scott
Dred Scott´s case moved up through the federal court system until it reached
the United States Supreme Court. In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled against
Scott. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote that since Scott was enslaved, he had
"none of the rights and privileges" of an American citizen.
The Supreme Court ruling troubled many people. They had hoped the Dred
Scott decision would settle the nations disagreements over slavery. Instead, this
decision only made the problem worse.

4. Challenging Slavery
Many white Northerners and free African Americans worked to abolish slavery. In
1827, two free African Americans, Samuel Cornish and John Russwurm, started a
newspaper called Freedom´s Journal . It was the first newspaper owned and
written by African Americans. In 1833, William Lloyd Garrison, a white
Northerner, founded the American Antislavery Society.
Frederick Douglass escaped slavery and became famous for his writings and
speeches against slavery. He often told his audiences, "I appear this evening as a
thief and a robber. I stole this head, these limbs, this body from my master
[owner] and ran off with them.“
Women Fight for Change
Many of the people who worked to end slavery were not entirely free themselves.
In the 1800s, women did not have the same rights as men. In 1848, Elizabeth
Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized a women´s rights convention
in Seneca Falls, New York. They wrote a document called The Declaration of
Rights and Sentiments, which called for equality for all Americans.

6. The Underground Railroad
By 1860, more than 500,000 free African Americans were living in the United States.
Some had been born to parents who were free. Some had bought their freedom, and
others had escaped from slavery by running away.
Over the years, thousands of enslaved people tried to gain their freedom by running
away. Many runaways kept moving for months until they reached free lands. Some
found helpers who led the way—the brave men and women of the Underground
Railroad.
The Underground Railroad was not a railroad, and it was not underground. It was a
system of secret escape routes that led enslaved people to free lands. Most routes led
from the South to free states or Canada. Some led to Mexico and to islands in the
Caribbean Sea.
Harriet Tubman, an African American who had escaped from slavery herself, was one
of the best-known conductors of the Underground Railroad.

7. Facing Dangers
Escaping on the Underground Railroad was dangerous. Slave catchers were a constant
danger. If caught, enslaved people were beaten and sometimes killed. Still, many
escaped to freedom.
Answer the following question:
1. Why did Dred Scott go to court?
2. How did the Underground Railroad work?
3. What groups of people resisted slavery?
4. CRITICAL THINKING Why do you think enslaved
people risked their lives to escape from slavery?