On July 6, 1854, a gathering of like-minded people in Jackson, Michigan, who believed every man and woman was created equal, signaled the birth of the Republican Party on an anti-slavery platform and helped change the course of American history, fueling the anti-slavery movement that led to the Civil War and eventually to the Emancipation Proclamation. In the decades leading up to the American Civil War, Jackson was also a hub and haven on the Underground Railroad, as thousands of slaves escaping through this human network sought what was considered the land of freedom, usually Canada, one night, one mile, and one act of kindness at a time. Several community leaders and families in Jackson secretly housed, clothed, fed, and reassured runaways, while others who supported slavery openly hunted and punished escaped slaves or anyone aiding their flight, and some northerners even captured runaways and returned them to servitude. Not every slave on the Underground Railroad escaped.