The Pearl Incident in 1848 was the largest recorded escape attempt by enslaved people in United States history. On April 15, 1848, 77 slaves attempted to flee Washington, D.C., by sailing away on a schooner called The Pearl. They planned to sail south along the Potomac River and then north up the Chesapeake Bay, cross overland to the Delaware River, and then to the free state of New Jersey, a distance of nearly 225 miles. Continue reading Revisit: THE PEARL INCIDENT, 1848