I was thinking about…Pennsylvania’s Role in Abolishing Slavery
By Andy Lee
I was thinking about Pennsylvania’s critical involvement in the abolitionist movement to end slavery in the United States. As the home of a large Quaker population and an important stop on the Underground Railroad, the Keystone State actively fought against slavery decades before emancipation.
Pennsylvania’s Quaker residents were instrumental in establishing abolitionism in the colony and state. Quakers believed all people were equal before God, so slavery was against their religious views. In 1688, Quakers in Germantown, PA wrote the first protest against slavery in English-speaking America. Though slavery persisted, Quakers continued to preach abolition.
The city of Philadelphia became a hub for Quaker abolitionists and freed slaves. Home to one of the largest Quaker populations, Philly had a vibrant community of ex-slaves and advocates for emancipation like Harriet Forten Purvis and Robert Purvis. Quaker William Still operated the Vigilance Committee here in the 1850s, supporting escaped slaves.
Thanks to the Quakers, Pennsylvania passed gradual abolition laws between 1780-1847 ending slavery decades before the Civil War. Children of enslaved mothers were set free after turning 28, slowly diminishing slavery. Though not as impactful as immediate emancipation, it showed early action against slavery.
Pennsylvania also played a major role in the Underground Railroad, the network of routes and safe houses aiding escaped slaves seeking freedom in the north. With its proximity to the south and anti-slavery Quaker population, PA was a crucial path on the Railroad. Slaves would cross the Mason-Dixon line separating slave state Maryland from free Pennsylvania and head towards Philadelphia along routes through Lancaster, Gettysburg, and other towns.
Brave Quaker conductors like Isaac Hopper, Thomas Garrett, and John Hunn risked fines and imprisonment to harbor runaways. Garrett alone is estimated to have helped over 2,500 slaves escape. There are many stories of sympathetic Pennsylvanians hiding and transporting fugitive slaves traveling through the state, defying slave bounty hunters to preserve freedom.
The most well-known Underground Railroad site in PA is the Johnson House in Philadelphia, now a historical museum. This 1765 townhouse hid hundreds of fugitive slaves in its cramped attic and small rooms thanks to owner William Still and other abolitionists. It featured trap doors and tunnels to evade slave catchers prowling the streets, allowing freedom seekers to escape safely into Canada.
Another key site is the Christiana Resistance memorial in Christiana, PA. It honors the 1851 standoff where escaped slave William Parker and free black citizens fought off slaveholders coming to reclaim runaways with firearms. Though charged with treason, Parker and his group were later acquitted, helping strengthen anti-slavery resistance.
Poems like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s “The Slave Mother” memorialize Pennsylvania’s aid on the Underground Railroad through wooded trails and torch-lit meetings. This secret network saved thousands of lives on the path to liberty. The critical help of Pennsylvanians in defiance of the law made the Railroad possible.
By war’s end Pennsylvania had enacted a new constitution abolishing slavery entirely. Slow but continual progress against slavery through legal action, the Underground Railroad, and changing social attitudes paved the way for Emancipation. This history is preserved in the reconstructed sites and monuments like the Johnson House that keep Pennsylvania’s anti-slavery contributions alive.
Though northern racism and discrimination persisted, early abolition sentiment flourished in Pennsylvania thanks to the Quakers. This religious community awakened social conscience against human bondage decades before mass anti-slavery mobilization. With its proximity to southern states, Pennsylvania ultimately played an outsized role in bringing runaways one step closer to freedom.
So next time you drive past a historical marker for the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania, consider the risks citizens took to uphold human dignity. At a time when slavery remained legal and protected, pockets of Pennsylvanians protected life and liberty. They saw all people, regardless of color, as inherently worthy of freedom’s blessings. Pennsylvania lived up to its motto as the keystone state, providing firm support for the abolitionist cause that ended slavery for good.
Stay curious, keep exploring.
I was thinking about... 