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The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a 'slave power conspiracy'. It declared that all runaway slaves be brought back to their masters. Abolitionists nicknamed it the "Bloodhound Law" for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.

Background

The earlier Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was a Federal law which was written with the intention of enforcing Article 4, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, which required the return of runaway slaves. It sought to force the authorities in free states to return fugitive slaves to their masters.

Some Northern states passed "personal liberty laws", mandating a jury trial before alleged fugitive slaves could be moved. Otherwise, they feared free blacks could be kidnapped into slavery. Other states forbade the use of local jails or the assistance of state officials in the arrest or return of such fugitives. In some cases, juries simply refused to convict individuals who had been indicted under the Federal law. Moreover, locals in some areas actively fought attempts to seize fugitives and return them to the South. And everywhere that was not tied with slavery, abolitionists spoke against this.

The Missouri Supreme Court routinely held that voluntary transportation of slaves into free states, with the intent of residing there permanently or definitely, automatically made them free.^[1] The Fugitive Slave Law dealt with slaves who went into free states without their master's consent. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842), that states did not have to offer aid in the hunting or recapture of slaves, greatly weakening the law of 1793.

References

Stanley W. Campbell, The Slave Catchers: Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850-1860 (1970)
Don E. Fehrenbacher, The Slaveholding Republic : An Account of the United States Government's Relations to Slavery (2002)
John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger, Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation (1999)
"Fugitive Slave Law" (2008)

Notes

^ Stampp, Kenneth M. (1990). America in 1857: A nation on the Brink. Oxford University Press. p. 84. Missouri courts on a number of occasions had granted freedom to slaves whose owners had taken them for long periods of residence in free states or territories

External links

Complete text of the Fugitive Slave Law
Compromise of 1850 and related resources at the Library of Congress
"Slavery in Massachusetts" by Henry David Thoreau
Runaway Slaves a Primary Source Adventure featuring fugitive slave advertisements from the 1850s, hosted by The Portal to Texas History

[1] Stampp, Kenneth M. (1990). America in 1857: A nation on the Brink. Oxford University Press. p. 84. Missouri courts on a number of occasions had granted freedom to slaves whose owners had taken them for long periods of residence in free states or territories

[1]

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 The [[Missouri Supreme Court]] routinely held that voluntary transportation of slaves into free states, with the intent of residing there permanently or definitely, automatically made them free.<ref>{{Cite book |quote=Missouri courts on a number of occasions had granted freedom to slaves whose owners had taken them for long periods of residence in free states or territories |title=America in 1857: A nation on the Brink |first=Kenneth M. |last=Stampp |location= |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1990 |page=84 |isbn= }}</ref> The [[Fugitive Slave Law]] dealt with slaves who went into free states without their master's consent. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] ruled, in ''[[Prigg v. Pennsylvania]]'' (1842), that states did not have to offer aid in the hunting or recapture of slaves, greatly weakening the law of 1793.
-==New law==
-{{slavery}}
-In response to the weakening of the original fugitive slave act, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made any [[United States Marshals Service|Federal marshal]] or other official who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave liable to a fine of $1,000. Law-enforcement officials everywhere now had a duty to arrest anyone suspected of being a runaway slave on no more evidence than a [[claimant]]'s sworn testimony of ownership. The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf. In addition, any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was  subject to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Officers who captured a fugitive slave were entitled to a bonus or promotion for their work.
-Slave owners only needed to supply an [[affidavit]] to a Federal marshal to capture an escaped slave. Since any suspected slave was not eligible for a trial this led to many free blacks being conscripted into slavery as they had no rights in court and could not defend themselves against accusations.<ref>[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASfugitive.htm action=view&term_id=9153&keyword=fugitive+slave+act Fugitive Slave Act<!-- Bot Generated Title -->]</ref>
-===Effects===
-In fact, the Fugitive Slave Law brought the issue home to anti-slavery citizens in the North, since it made them and their institutions responsible for enforcing slavery. Even moderate abolitionists were now faced with the immediate choice of defying what they believed an unjust law or breaking with their own consciences and beliefs. The [[Burns Fugitive Slave Case|case]] of [[Anthony Burns]] fell under this statute.
-The Fugitive Slave Act brought a defiant response from abolitionists. Reverend [[Luther Lee]], pastor of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of [[Syracuse, New York]] wrote in [[1855]]:
-{{cquote|I never would obey it. I had assisted thirty slaves to escape to Canada during the last month. If the authorities wanted anything of me, my residence was at 39 Onondaga Street. I would admit that and they could take me and lock me up in the Penitentiary on the hill; but if they did such a foolish thing as that I had friends enough on Onondaga County to level it to the ground before the next morning. The slaves could no longer take control over what they could never imagine.}}
-This was far from empty rhetoric; several years before, in the famous [[Jerry Rescue]], Syracuse abolitionists did free by force a fugitive slave who was about to be sent back into the South and successfully smuggled him to Canada.
-In 1854, the [[Wisconsin Supreme Court]] became the only state high court to declare the Fugitive Slave Act unconstitutional, as a result of a case involving fugitive slave [[Joshua Glover]], and [[Sherman Booth]], who led efforts that thwarted Glover's recapture. Ultimately, in 1859 in [[Ableman v. Booth]] the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the state court.<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=2485&keyword=booth Booth, Sherman Miller 1812 - 1904<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=9153&keyword=fugitive+slave+act Fugitive Slave Act<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
-Other opponents, such as African American leader [[Harriet Tubman]], simply treated the law as just another complication in their activities. The most important reaction was making the neighboring country of [[Canada]] the main destination of choice for runaway slaves.
-With the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]], General [[Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]] justified refusing to return runaway slaves in accordance to this law because  the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] were at war: the slaves could be confiscated and set free as [[Contraband (American Civil War)|contraband]] of war. The South also argued that the Fugitive Slave Act only applied to the Union; the South had broken away, so the law did not apply to the Confederacy.
 ==See also==