In February 1854, prominent political abolitionist Gerrit Smith of upstate New York, then a Free Soil congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives, submitted three petitions, bearing hundreds of signatures, calling for Northup to be compensated. Over the next few months, several additional petitions reached Congress on the same subject. Most were from Smith’s constituents, although at least one, submitted by Free Soil congressman Edward Wade, came from distant Illinois. These petitions typically recounted Northup’s kidnapping and years in bondage, then “respectfully request[ed] some suitable action by your Honorable body to indemnify him by some adequate compensation for the time spent in the unrequited service of worse than Egyptian taskmasters.” In each case, the petitions were forwarded to congressional committees, where they were permanently tabled. Stymied by Southern politicians, the campaign expired in less than a year’s time.