Following is a partial chronology of the Underground Railroad, abolition and other key historical events bearing on the Underground Railroad.
DATE
|
EVENT |
| 1500s |
 |
 |
| 1585 |
 |
First Africans brought to North America and enslaved at St. Augustine, Florida |
| AFTER 1585 |
|
Underground Railroad begins when some unknown aids first freedom seeker |
| 1600s |
|
|
| FEB 18 1688 |
|
Mennonites in North America formally oppose slavery, begin aiding freedom seekers |
| 1700s |
|
|
| 1754 |
|
Quakers in north America condemn slavery |
| 1775 |
|
First abolition society formed in Philadelphia |
| 1780 |
|
Methodist Church in America states that slavery contradicts laws of God and man |
| 1780 - 1786 |
|
Nine northern states abolish slavery or legislate emancipation |
| NOV 20 1786 |
|
George Washington writes of his acting as a slave catcher |
| 1787 |
|
Rev. Absalom Jones, Rev. Richard Allen form Independent Free African Society |
| JUL 13 1787 |
|
Northwest Ordinance prohibits slavery in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin |
| 1787 |
|
Presbyterian Church of America condemns slavery, begins promoting abolition |
| JUN 21 1788 |
|
United States Constitution ratified, fails to outlaw slavery |
| NOV 1788 |
|
George Washington, an enslaver from Virginia, elected president |
| 1789 |
|
Baptist Church of Virginia condemns slavery, urges abolition |
| NOV 1796 |
|
John Adams, only non-enslaver among main Founders, elected president |
| 1800s |
|
|
| 1808 |
|
United States outlaws further importation of slaves |
| JUN 14 1811 |
|
Harriet Beecher Stowe, future author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, born |
| 1816 |
|
African Methodist Episcopal Church founded, opposes slavery, begins aiding fugitives |
| 1822 |
|
Harriet Tubman, national heroine to be, born on Maryland's eastern shore |
| 1827 |
|
John Russworm and Samuel Cornish, black journalists, publish Freedom's Journal |
| 1828 |
|
Russworm and Cornish publish The Rights of All, first black abolitionist periodical |
| JAN 1 1831 |
|
William Lloyd Garrison, age 26, publishes first issue of his anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator. Continues publication until Thirteenth Amendment is passed in 1865. |
| 1831 |
|
William Lloyd Garrison, others, form New England Anti-Slavery Society |
| 1830s |
|
Vigilance committees formed in northern cities to prevent return of fugitive slaves |
| 1831 |
|
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad lays down nation's first rail line |
| MID-1800s |
|
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company sued for aiding freedom seekers |
| 1830s |
|
Network aiding freedom seekers first takes on the name Underground Railroad |
| 1833 |
|
Arthur and Lewis Tappan form New York's National Anti-Slavery Society |
| 1834 |
|
British Empire abolishes slavery throughout its worldwide commonwealth including Canada which becomes a magnet for United States freedom seekers |
| 1830s |
|
Some other European powers begin abolishing slavery at home and in their colonies |
| 1837 |
|
James and Lucretia Mott and others form Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society |
| 1849 |
|
Harriet Tubman escapes enslavement on Maryland's Eastern Shore |
| 1850 |
|
Harriet Tubman makes first of several successful rescues of Maryland freedom seekers. "Never loses a passenger." |
| SEP a8 1850 |
|
Fugitive Slave Act passed requiring all citizens to aid in capture of freedom seekers |
| APR 1 1852 |
|
Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin published, sells a record 500,000 copies in nine months, sells another 500,000 copies abroad. First international best-seller. |
| MAR 6 1857 |
|
Dred Scott decision, authored by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, strips blacks, free and enslaved, of citizenship |
| OCT 16 1859 |
|
Abolitionist John Brown seizes federal armory at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia |
| DEC 2 1859 |
|
John Brown hanged in Charlestown, Virginia (later West Virginia) |
| BY 1860 |
|
Of the 33 states, 18 no longer permit slavery |
| NOV 1860 |
|
Abraham Lincoln elected as 16th president |
| DEC 1860 |
|
Southern states begin seceding |
| MAR 1861 |
|
Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as 16th president |
| APR 12 1861 |
|
Fort Sumter fired on, Civil War begins |
| DEC 31 1862 |
|
Western counties of Virginia secede from Virginia and form anti-slavery West Virginia |
| JAN 1 1863 |
|
Emancipation Proclamation promulgated abolishing slavery in Confederate states |
| JUL 1863 |
|
Working as a Union scout, Harriet Tubman in a single week frees more than 750 enslaved people along South Carolina's Combahee River |
| MAY 26 1865 |
|
Civil War ends |
| DEC 6 1865 |
|
Thirteenth Amendment outlaws slavery, with Mississippi the only dissenting state |
| 1872 |
|
William Still's The Underground Railroad published |
| JUL 1 1896 |
|
Harriet Beecher Stowe dies |
| 1900s |
|
|
| MAR 10 1913 |
|
Harriet Tubman, national heroine, dies at her home in Auburn, New York |
| AFTER 1913 |
|
The Underground Railroad fades from the national memory |
| 2000s |
|
|
| SEP 17 2004 |
|
Friends of the Underground Railroad, Inc., international organization promoting Underground Railroad history and restoration, founded |
