6. The Pearl Escape: Mass Flight by Boat
In 1848, seventy-seven enslaved people staged the largest recorded escape attempt in U.S. history, boarding the schooner Pearl to flee Washington, D.C. Their daring overnight voyage down the Potomac River was ultimately thwarted, and all were recaptured. Still, the audacious plan drew national attention, exposing the brutal realities of slavery in the heart of the nation and intensifying abolitionist calls for justice. Read more about this remarkable episode at National Archives.
