Which begs the question, if the North was this wonderful place so incredibly sympathetic to the plight of runaway slaves, why DIDN’T these kind folks — all of whom were MY ancestors — shelter and protect them HERE in the U.S.?
Could it have been because MANY large, wealthy and influential NORTHERN interests were providing the FINANCING for the SLAVE TRADE??
Gives a new meaning to HYPOCRICY.
It all begs the question why you aren't bothering to look any of this up on your own, but I digress. The short answer is many were. But the Underground Railroad rain for around 40 years, from 1810 to around 1850. During that period the primary responsibility for apprehending fuigitive slaves lay with state and local authorities per the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793. Any fugitive slave remaining in those free states was subject to arrest by any local official out for the reward. Remaining in the U.S. under those circumstances was a lot riskier than it would become.
The Underground Railroad petered out after 1840 and by 1850 it was no longer the long distance route to Canada it had been, but merely a route out of the South. Why this happened is simple. The 1842 Prigg v. Pennsylvania decision had ruled that state and local officials could not be made to enforce federal laws like the fugitive slave laws. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 gave the federal government responsibility for tracking down runaways. Personal liberty laws were being passed, and struck down, and then passed in another form. And the anti-slavery movement grew in free states to the point where the fugitives could remain in reasonable safety without much fear of being captured and sent back south.