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Thornton Blackburn

Biography

Canada

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Biography

Thornton Blackburn (c. 1812–1890) was a self-emancipated formerly enslaved man whose case established the principle that Canada would not return slaves to their masters in the United States and thus established Canada as a safe terminus for the Underground Railroad.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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