Fugitive Slave Laws

By: Wade and Jaden

Introduction

It was the late 1700s when the government passed the first fugitive slave act, resulting in a drop in the number of fugitive slaves. Cruel treatment from slave owners caused slaves to want to run away. The fugitive slave acts made their search for freedom difficult. The slave acts of 1793, 1850, and their repeal left a large impact on the early United States.

1793

The initial Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1793. This act allowed the capture of fugitive slaves. This meant that after running from a slave state into a free state, the slave would not be freed, but still susceptible to seizure. However, “many enslaved people fleeing to Canada” (history.com) found the freedom they were seeking. There, the government did not cooperate with the United States, refusing to return the fugitive slaves, which kept the slaves safe. The West was another option for slaves seeking freedom, as the Native Americans welcomed them, and many started families.

The 1793 slave act set harsh punishments, (still not as cruel as those of the 1850 act,) on those who refused to carry out the law regarding fugitive slaves, and those who aided slaves in escaping. These opposers were “fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, and [could] be imprisoned not exceeding one year” (Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, Section 2). It must have been a difficult position, facing a criminal charge for what abolitionists believed was right, or remaining idle.

When it came to the trials, judges were extremely biased against slaves, and personal liberty laws also affected the trial. The fugitives were forbidden from testifying in their cases, making the trial almost impossible. "These agents were paid more [$10] for returning a suspected runaway than for freeing them [$5]" (History.com). As a result, very few slaves were freed during their trials. Neither were these trials spared a jury, at least before the personal liberty laws. On one hand, they allowed juries for more of the slave trials, in an effort to secure justice. These laws were founded by the Northern States' governments, and meant to counteract the Fugitive Slave Acts. Even though only “Six of the New England states, as well as Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin” (uscivilliberties.org) passed these new laws, it still made enforcing the Fugitive Slave Acts difficult, at least in those states. The 1793 Fugitive Slave Act made achieving, and maintaining freedom difficult for slaves.

1850

The revised Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 had a lot of backlash and made it even harder for escaped slaves. Since the states had different needs, the act further increased tension between the North and South. The Slave Act caused even more disagreements than there were already. With the South still wanting slavery, and the North not wanting it, the argument pushed the North and South further apart. The act even started protests in the Northern states. Since there were new laws, slaves had a much harder time escaping because of the new act. Included in the act, private commissioners were given the same amount of authority in the court as the judges who made the rulings the act. With these commissioners given this authority, and the fact that when an escaped slave was brought to them, they were paid double the amount to rule on the side of the slave owner over the slave, people knew that it was unfair.

In the act, there was also much higher pay for returning slaves, which made people want to keep watch for them even more. There was also a higher fine for helping an escaped slave get away, with a cost of $1000 and up to six months of jail time. Since people disagreed with it, the act became nearly impossible to enforce in some northern states. The law was becoming so disliked that “States like Vermont and Wisconsin passed new measures intended to bypass and even nullify the law, and abolitionists redoubled their efforts to assist runaways” (history.com). In many northern states, personal liberty laws were put in place, which ensured slaves the right to a jury trial, making it more fair. The act was also just being ignored completely in some states. Slaves had a much harder time escaping because of the 1850 act, and also pushed the country further apart.

Repeal

For 71 years, the Fugitive Slave Acts haunted slaves, but they were finally repealed in 1864. The first event that led to the repeal was when more and more people began to oppose them. As the number of abolitionists grew, the Underground Railroad became more reliable and extensive for runaways. The new abolitionists were primarily springing up in the North because there was little, or at least, less, need for slaves there. On the contrary, it was believed the South needed lots more slaves to keep the plantations consistent, and in effect, stabilize the United States’s trade.

Overall, the acts were biased and meant to keep slaves from attaining freedom, and many agreed that they should be repealed. Another reason was the Slave Acts and the Civil War were tied to each other. The Civil War was a war between those who supported slavery and those who did not, so the Fugitive Slave Acts, which supported slavery, was something that many people were fighting against, further establishing the conflict over these unjust acts. It was during the Civil War (1861-1865) that the acts were at last repealed, in 1864. It was Congress who decided on the repeal, and on June 28th, Lincoln signed the repealing legislation. The nullifying of the Fugitive Slave Acts were another step towards the end of slavery.

Conclusion

The Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793, 1850, and their repeal all had an effect on slaves. The reason students are still learning about these laws is because they had a special importance in the early United States. Many slaves were returned to their owners due to these laws. Six months after the Emancipation Proclamation, the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850 were finally nullified.

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