Maryland and Georgia and other states had similar laws.
The real effective revolt of the Negro against slavery was not, however,
by fighting, but by running away, usually to the North, which had been
recently freed from slavery. From the beginning of the nineteenth century
slaves began to escape in considerable numbers. Four geographical paths
were chiefly followed: one, leading southward, was the line of swamps
along the coast from Norfolk, Virginia, to the northern border of Florida.
This gave rise to the Negro element among the Indians in Florida and led
to the two Seminole wars of 1817 and 1835. These wars were really slave
raids to make the Indians give up the Negro and half-breed slaves
domiciled among them. The wars cost the United States ten million dollars
and two thousand lives.
The great Appalachian range, with its abutting mountains, was the safest
path northward. Through Tennessee and Kentucky and the heart of the
Cumberland Mountains, using the limestone caverns, was the third route,
and the valley of the Mississippi was the western tunnel.
These runaways and the freedmen of the North soon began to form a group of
people who sought to consider the problem of slavery and the destiny of
the Negro in America.
Pages:
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213