A New York Times Notable Book Selection Winner of the Mark Lynton History Prize Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Winner of the Lionel Trilling Book Award

Examines the impact fugitive slaves had on the Fugitive Slave Law and the coming of the American Civil War.

In this thoroughly researched documentation of a historically controversial issue, the author considers the background, passage, and constitutionality of the Fu

*Includes pictures *Includes stories about the fugitive slave law and accounts about it *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Despit

When John Price took a chance at freedom by crossing the frozen Ohio river from Kentucky into Ohio one January night in 1856, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was