Recognizing the historic abolitionist events surrounding the Pearl, and honoring its legacy in American history.

HRES 294 is a non-binding House resolution recognizing the 1848 Pearl incident, where 77 enslaved people attempted to escape slavery in the District of Columbia and Virginia aboard the schooner *Pearl*. The resolution honors the escape attempt, the abolitionists involved (including free Black activists Paul Jennings and Paul Edmonson), and the historical significance of this event as the largest known mass escape by enslaved people in U.S. history. It specifically references how the event inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s *Uncle Tom’s Cabin* and acknowledges the subsequent Washington Riot of 1848. This resolution serves only to commemorate the event and its legacy, with no policy changes or direct effects on current laws or constituents.