Learn about the tumultuous three decades that culminated in the American Civil War on this small-group walking tour. As you stroll the narrow lanes of Beacon Hill, you'll follow in the footsteps of 19th-century Bostonians, black and white, who grappled with an intractable conflict over racial slavery looming over their young nation.

Start your walking tour on Boston Common, where the Black Heritage Trail originates. From there, you'll head right into historic Beacon Hill, where a free African-American community resided mere blocks from the wealthiest of Boston. Learn about the struggle for equality in education, debates over racial integration, and growth of anti-slavery political movements, while on the very doorstep of homes along the famed Underground Railway.

Your walking tour loop concludes in front of the Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment Memorial on Boston Common, just up Beacon Street from where the tour initially began.