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UNIT 10: Divided Nation
UNIT 10: Divided Nation
Lesson: The Fugitive Slave Act
Lesson: The Fugitive Slave Act
8.56 Explain the reasons for and the impact of the Compromise of 1850 (including Henry Clay’s role as “The Great Compromiser”) and the Fugitive Slave Act (including Harriet Beecher Stowe’s influence with Uncle Tom’s Cabin).
8.56 Explain the reasons for and the impact of the Compromise of 1850 (including Henry Clay’s role as “The Great Compromiser”) and the Fugitive Slave Act (including Harriet Beecher Stowe’s influence with Uncle Tom’s Cabin).
the fugitive slave act
the fugitive slave act
To pacify the slave states, the Compromise of 1850 included the Fugitive Slave Act. Many slaveholders felt that the Federal Government was not doing enough to help them deal with the problem of escaped slaves. In return for allowing California to enter the union as a free state, the Federal Government promised to increase efforts to assist slaveholders in capturing and returning runaway slaves, even if they had made it into free territory in the north. The law punished those who helped runaway slaves with exorbitant fines and the threat of jail time.
A REIGN OF TERROR
A REIGN OF TERROR
For slaves and free blacks alike, the Fugitive Slave Act was devastating. One slave named Harriet Jacobs described the laws as of the beginning of a reign of terror to the colored population. Under the law, African-Americans had no rights. This meant that, if captured, they were not allowed a jury trial. Even free blacks who are wrongly captured had no way to defend themselves. As a result of the Fugitive Slave Act, and estimated 20,000 blacks fled to Canada.
WHAT DID THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT DO?
WHAT DID THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT DO?
Southerners felt like the Fugitive Slave Act simply enforced the rights they already had under the Constitution. Many people in the north, however, we’re outraged. They saw the bill as cruel and they did not want to be forced to assist in the capture of escaped slaves. Abolitionists became even more dedicated to the cause of ending slavery and expanded their efforts to help slaves escape. Others who had been on the fence about the question of slavery became firmly opposed to it. Rather than ease tensions over slavery, as it was intended to do, the Fugitive Slave Act only increased the mistrust that existed between the north and south.
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