Continuity & Progress

Delaware was one of the few slave states that remained in the Union during the American Civil War, and the District of Delaware was the site of several notable cases related to slavery and the Civil War. For example, in 1861, a group of slaves in Delaware attempted to escape to freedom on a ship called the Pearl, which was intercepted and brought back to Delaware. The case, which became known as the "Pearl Incident," was one of the earliest examples of a slave rebellion in the United States.