US History Fugitive Slave Acts

By the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut abolished slavery. Southerners were concerned that the states would become safe havens for runaway slaves. What did Southern politicians make sure of in the Constitution?

"Fugitive Slave Clause" (Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3) stated that "no person held to service or labor" would be released from bondage in the event they escaped to a free state.

When were the Fugitve Slave Acts enacted by Congress?

1793

Who was Edward Prigg?

A Maryland man who was convicted of kidnapping after he captured a suspected slave in Pennsylvania.

How did most people feel about the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793?

It was immediately met with a firestorm of criticism.

What date did Congress repeal the Fugitive Slave Acts?

June 28, 1864

Did Northern states enforce the law?

No, most intentionally neglected it and serveral states even passed so-called "Personal Liberty Laws" that gave runaways the right to trial by jury.

Did the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 decrease the penalties?

No, they added more provisions regarding runaways and levied even harsher punishments for interfering in their capture.

Fugitive Slave Act

Were a pair (1793 and 1850) of federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of runaway slaves within the territory of the United States.

What two things did the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 do?

1) Compelled citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves. 2) Denied slaves right to trial by jury and increased the penalty for interfering to $1000 and 6 months in jail.

What did the first Fugitive Slave Acts authorize?

1) local governments to seize and return escaped slaves to their owners and imposed penalties on anyone who aided in their flight.

Why did Congress pass the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850?

Increased pressure from Southern politicians

What was the Supreme Court case that challenged the legality of the Personal Liberty Laws?

Prigg vs. Pennsylvania

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 became unenforceable in certain Northern states. Was it repealed?

Republican and Free Soil congressmen regularly introduced bills to repeal it, but the law persisted until after the beginning of the Civil War.

What did the harsher laws do to Northerners?

States like Wisconsin and Vermont passed new measures to bypass the laws. And abolitionists redoubled their efforts to help runaway slaves.

What did the Supreme Court rule in Prigg v. Pennsylvania?

Supreme Court ruled in favor of Prigg, setting the precedent that federal law superseded any state measure that attempted interfere with the Fugitive Slave Act.

What did widespread resistance to the 1793 law lead to?

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Why didn't Northerners like it?

They thought it turned their states into a stalking ground for bounty hunters, many thought it was legalized kidnapping. Some *abolitionists* built complex networks of safe houses to aid slaves in their escape.

How were the Fugitive Slave Clause and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 different?

They were similar in many ways, but included more detailed description of how the law was to be put into practice. *Most importantly, it decreed that slave owners and their agents had the right to search for escaped slaves within the borders of the free states.*