Depiction of Nat Turner Rebellion published in 1831; artist unknown (Library of Congress)

Popular illustration attacking cruelty of Fugitive Slave Law in 1850;  Created by Theodor Kaufmann // Library of Congress

Engraving published in William Still, The Underground Railroad in 1872 that shows the events of the Christiana riots where a shootout occurred between hunters and a dozen black men who were protecting the runaways.

Runaways heading toward Gettysburg, PA get into a shootout with white men in a Maryland barn, Illustration and details in William Still’s The Underground Rail Road (1872) // House Divided Project

Runaways fight off recapture on the Chespeake Bay in1860; Engraving by John Osler in William Still’s The Underground Railroad (1872) // House Divided Project

“The Hunted Slaves,” an 1861 painting by British artist Richard Ansdell (Google Arts and Culture)

A family of freedom seekers attempts to escape via boat // Schomburg Center, New York Public Library

A group of freedom seekers follow the North Star towards Canada, as depicted in the Uncle Tom’s Almanac published in 1853 // Schomburg Center, New York Public Library

A group of an enslaved families escape from Cambridge, MD following advice from Harriet Tubman; depicted in William Still’s The Underground Railroad (1872); illustration by John Osler //  House Divided)

“Forward” by African American artist Jacob Lawrence depicts Harriet Tubman carrying a revolver while leading a  group of runaways to freedom  // North Carolina Museum of Art

“Stampede Among the Negroes in Virginia,”  Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, June 8, 1861 // Library of Congress

“Stampede of Slaves from Hampton to Fortress Monroe,” Harper’s Weekly, August 17, 1861  // Library of Congress

“A Ride for Liberty” by Eastman Johnson, 1862 // Brooklyn Museum of Art

“On To Liberty” by Theodor Kaufmann depicts a group of wartime runaways or contrabands // The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sketch by Alfred Waud, Harpers Weekly, January 31, 1863

Freed slaves from the Jefferson Davis plantation arrive behind Union lines at Chickasaw Bayou in 1863. By Fred B. Schell // House Divided Project

Enslaved people escape aboard a flatboat, from Harper’s Weekly in 1864 // House Divided Project

Contrabands escaping to Union lines by Aflred R. Waud. Harper’s Weekly 1864  // House Divided Project

“The War in Virginia – Contrabands coming to the Union camp,” Sketch by Edwin Forbes, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 20, 1864

Escaping by boat to Union lines in Wilmington, North Carolina, By Joseph Becker, from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper in 1865. (House Divided Project)

Young liberated men behind Union lines near Washington, D.C., c. 1862 (Library of Congress) Photographer unknown.

A group of freed people behind Union lines, near Yorktown, Virginia, May 1862. (Library of Congress) Photograph taken by John F. Gibson.

A group of liberated people outside Foller’s house in Cumberland Landing, Virginia in 1862. (Library of Congress) Photograph taken by James F. Gibson.

Two freed men sitting in front of a tent in Culpeper, Virginia in 1862. (Library of Congress) Photograph taken by Timothy H. O’Sullivan.

The scourged back of Gordon, a runaway slave, whose photograph was taken at a Union camp in 1863. (The Metropolitan  Museum of Art) 

A group of freed African American men gathered and dressed in Union army uniforms, c. 1864. (Library of Congress) Photographer unknown.

A group of freedmen gathered near a canal at Haxall’s Mill in Richmond Virginia in 1865. (Library of Congress) Photograph taken by Alexander Gardner.