n eastern Maryland. At the time, abolitionist movements started gaining speed as popular parties in the North. In the North, pro-slavery white mobs attacked black communities in retaliation for their efforts. By the time Douglass escaped from slavery, in 1838, tensions ran high among abolitionists and slaveowners. Slaves published accounts of their harrowing escapes, and their lives in slavery, mainly with the help of ghostwriters. Although abolitionists called for the total elimination of slavery in the South, racial segregation still occurred all over the United States. Blacks, freemen especially, found the task of finding a decent job overwhelming. White workers often did not want to work with blacks. The Fugitive Slave Law, passed in 1850, allowed slaveowners to hunt the North for their escaped property. Under Supreme Court’s 1857 Dred Scot decision condoning the law as constitutional, a slave’s rights as a citizen became invalid because of the property clause. Reclaiming “stolen” property also lent itself to certain abuses. Slavehunters often kidnapped freed blacks under the premise of the law. However, the growing abolitionist movement provided room, board, and often the means for escape to hundreds of slaves. In contrast to the abolitionists, many blacks such as Garnet and Delany advocated a mass migration back to Africa. The Civil War became the ultimate debate for slavery, but not segregation. After the war in 1865, “black codes” still kept blacks from owning property, and therefore they became virtual slaves to their white employers. The KKK arose from the southern hatred and mistrust of blacks, terrorizing neighborhoods and lynching “uppity” blacks. Stormy times still lay ahead for blacks, and many aging abolitionists retired from their quests. A few blacks entered politics, but never enough to form a solid voting bloc in state or federal legislatures. The age of passive resista...
