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# Thoreau Begins to Work with the Underground Railroad
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/show/henry-david-thoreau/extras/thoreau-begins-to-work-with-the-underground-railroad-qauraa/
- Published: 2026-03-25T19:00:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-14T21:57:15.000Z
- Description: Thoreau participates in the Underground Railroad and gives a speech on what it means to be free.
- Author: Cascade PBS Staff
- Tags: Henry David Thoreau, #ZZZ_Show_2a95fc7a-ed85-4cbe-86a3-654f60762917, #geo-us, #v1.7, #ZZZ_Extra_1813ea82-2609-44e4-9307-6d7c38d03771, #extra

In 1850, the U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act, makes it legal for slave owners to reclaim any runaways, even those who had escaped to free states. The women of the Thoreau household had already been active in the Underground Railroad, but this new law spurs Thoreau into action, too. Thoreau gives an impassioned speech about the freedoms that all human beings deserve titled "Walking."