The first Fugitive Slave Act was enacted by Congress and passed in the House of Representatives in a 48-7 vote in 1793. In response to a disagreement over the extradition of a fugitive slave named John Davis between Pennsylvania and Virginia, this act guaranteed slave owners the right to recover runaway slaves. Once arrested, the federal statute read that the state government had a period of 6 months to find and return the alleged slave to their owner. After the allotted time in holding without an owner, the prisoner was to be discharged and released, but that didn’t stop free individuals from getting entangled in capture and forced to spend 6 months in jail simply because of the color of their skin. The alleged slave’s word was not enough
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It was getting too expensive to catch runaways and at the rate it was going slavery would eventually be frivolous. Thus, the new Fugitive Slave Law was born and enacted as part of the Compromise of 1850. This new version of this act brought upon an even stricter set of regulations for returning slaves to their owners. More cruel and oppressive than the last, the federal government was now required to assist the slave owners. Free states were no longer a safe haven for those who escaped from slavery. Any citizen could become a US marshal and their job was to do whatever was deemed necessary to apprehend alleged fugitives. Many such individuals were physically hurt and killed attempting to avoid capture. For these men and women they were running for their freedom, trying to get away from a life of depravity and servitude that they never wanted. They were viewed as property, dead or alive, and few hesitated to shoot them in the chase. Marshals were fined $1000 if they refused to comply with their new job. Also, if a fugitive slave escaped their custody they were responsible for the full value of the service or labor of said individual. The law forced consequences on individuals for refusing to comply with something they may morally disagree with. However, if they chose to comply, both marshalls, their deputies, and their clerks …show more content…
An overwhelming majority of those accused were deemed guilty based solely on “evidence” from the slave owner, as little as his word. The act created a new office, the federal commissioner, who determined whether an african american was free or a slave. It is stated that the commissioner is awarded $10 if he ruled in favor of the slave owner and only $5 if he ruled against the slave owner. This part of the law was a means to bribe commissioners into ruling in favor of the slave owners. All commissioners were also white men, many who owned slaves themselves. Now, even people that were free their entire lives fled the country. Most went to Canada through the underground railroad with the help of risk taking individuals willing to put their life on the line for the greater good of those forced into slavery. There was no way to hide in the US, no way to change the color of their skin, and no way to prove that they were free. This unfair disadvantage, passed by the majority, allowed african americans to be systematically oppressed solely based on race. Slavery was an inescapable reality for those already involved, and those that had yet to
It was getting too expensive to catch runaways and at the rate it was going slavery would eventually be frivolous. Thus, the new Fugitive Slave Law was born and enacted as part of the Compromise of 1850. This new version of this act brought upon an even stricter set of regulations for returning slaves to their owners. More cruel and oppressive than the last, the federal government was now required to assist the slave owners. Free states were no longer a safe haven for those who escaped from slavery. Any citizen could become a US marshal and their job was to do whatever was deemed necessary to apprehend alleged fugitives. Many such individuals were physically hurt and killed attempting to avoid capture. For these men and women they were running for their freedom, trying to get away from a life of depravity and servitude that they never wanted. They were viewed as property, dead or alive, and few hesitated to shoot them in the chase. Marshals were fined $1000 if they refused to comply with their new job. Also, if a fugitive slave escaped their custody they were responsible for the full value of the service or labor of said individual. The law forced consequences on individuals for refusing to comply with something they may morally disagree with. However, if they chose to comply, both marshalls, their deputies, and their clerks …show more content…
An overwhelming majority of those accused were deemed guilty based solely on “evidence” from the slave owner, as little as his word. The act created a new office, the federal commissioner, who determined whether an african american was free or a slave. It is stated that the commissioner is awarded $10 if he ruled in favor of the slave owner and only $5 if he ruled against the slave owner. This part of the law was a means to bribe commissioners into ruling in favor of the slave owners. All commissioners were also white men, many who owned slaves themselves. Now, even people that were free their entire lives fled the country. Most went to Canada through the underground railroad with the help of risk taking individuals willing to put their life on the line for the greater good of those forced into slavery. There was no way to hide in the US, no way to change the color of their skin, and no way to prove that they were free. This unfair disadvantage, passed by the majority, allowed african americans to be systematically oppressed solely based on race. Slavery was an inescapable reality for those already involved, and those that had yet to