Was the Fugitive Slave Law Justified? When has it ever been right, or even legally okay to discriminate or kidnap human beings? The day the Fugitive Slave Law went into effect in 1850, it could be determined as unjust due to the law's unfairness to Americans across the nation, immorality, and unconstitutionality. The 13th amendment states in section I, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction" (U.S. Constitution). Therefore, the act of capturing African Americans from the North and reenslaving them back into the South took freedom from 332 African Americans between 1850 and 1860
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Anyone who even helped a black man which was considered a fugitive slave by feeding them or providing housing was considered an unlawful and they were penalized. Even if a white man did not support slavery, he was forced to be a part of the system due to the law which forced Northerners to help return fugitive slaves. If a man even knew about a fugitive slave, he could be arrested for not bringing him in (housedivided.dickinson.edu). Not only did white people have unfair consequences of the Fugitive Slave Law, but blacks were stripped of their freedom and returned the South during this time. In one case, Anthony Burns, a free black living in Boston, was recaptured and sent back to Virginia in 1854 (blackpast.org). The recapture of freed Anthony Burns, is a prime example of how blacks were unfairly reenslaved. Over the next couple years, whites even decided to set up a fund and raise money to rebuy Burns freedom. Because more slaves than were originally supposed to be captured were taken to the South, the Fugitive Slave Law can be named unjust. The law is also unjust because is forced blacks to flee America. Leaving blacks no other choice than to flee the nation northward goes against every
Anyone who even helped a black man which was considered a fugitive slave by feeding them or providing housing was considered an unlawful and they were penalized. Even if a white man did not support slavery, he was forced to be a part of the system due to the law which forced Northerners to help return fugitive slaves. If a man even knew about a fugitive slave, he could be arrested for not bringing him in (housedivided.dickinson.edu). Not only did white people have unfair consequences of the Fugitive Slave Law, but blacks were stripped of their freedom and returned the South during this time. In one case, Anthony Burns, a free black living in Boston, was recaptured and sent back to Virginia in 1854 (blackpast.org). The recapture of freed Anthony Burns, is a prime example of how blacks were unfairly reenslaved. Over the next couple years, whites even decided to set up a fund and raise money to rebuy Burns freedom. Because more slaves than were originally supposed to be captured were taken to the South, the Fugitive Slave Law can be named unjust. The law is also unjust because is forced blacks to flee America. Leaving blacks no other choice than to flee the nation northward goes against every