1700s and the mid-1820s, another avenue for the pursuit of freedom opened up. However, mostly runaways from the Upper South (Virginia, Maryland and Delaware) could avail themselves of this opportunity. Getting to the North from the Deep South was an extremely difficult and rarely successful endeavour. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 that imposed fines on officials who did not arrest runaways, including in free states, thousands of people made their way to Canada, where slavery had been abolished in 1834. In the antebellum period, it is estimated that in excess of 50,000 individuals ran away annually (Franklin and Schweninger, 1999, p. 282). Most, however, were either caught or returned to the farms and plantations.