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There was a pair of federal laws that allowed the capture of runaway slaves. The fugitive slave act of 1793 was proposed by congress which led to the 1850 fugitive slave act. The 1850 fugitive slave act made much more provisions to the runaway slaves, and much tougher punishments then the 1793 fugitive slave act. Some of the provisions in the 1850 slave act were denying the slaves the right to jury trial, interfering with the rendition to $1,000, and six months in jail. In order for this law to be enforced it was in the hands of federal commissioners. They were paid more for capturing slaves then freeing, this just shows that this law was biased towards the southern slaveholders. The fugitive slave acts were among the most debatable laws of the early 19th century.

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We talk about the history of this in other sections but this section should go deeper into what happened before the 1850 law was passed. Minor laws and rules that regarded refugee slaves existed as far back as 1643. These rules were later enacted (Turned into bills then laws) in multiple of the original thirteen colonies. An example of one of these took place in 1705 when New York passed a law that helped prevent slaves from fleeing to Canada. Two other examples took place in Virginia and Maryland. The drafted laws to protect the capture and return of runaway slaves. However, by the time of the constitutional convention many Northern states had banned slavery. Due to these new laws in the Northern states, the Southern politicians were very concerned about slaves escaping to the North. So, the added the Fugitive Slave Clause to the Constitution. (Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3) It stated that slaves would not be released even if they escaped. They were to be brought back to their owners as soon as possible. Even though they created this clause, the Southerners plan hadn't quite worked. Another problem was that citizens in the North were starting to try to abolish slavery entirely. So, because of all the pressure from Southern lawmakers, Congress created The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 which was very similar to the Clause but went into more detail. It showed that when a slave was caught they had to be brought to court and someone had to prove that they were their property. This was met with a LOT of criticism and much action including in the North started to create safe houses for slaves. Some Northern states were so mad they created "Personal Liberty Laws" which allowed slaves a right to trial by jury. Then, in the 1850s, the underground railroad reached its peak. So, after all of this, Congress eventually created The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 to insure that all of the laws about runaway slaves were enforced and well handled. There were many riots and gatherings against this. It wasn't until June 28th 1864 that both The Fugitive Slave Acts were repealed.

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When Did The Fugitive Slave Act Take Place?

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When Did The Fugitive Slave Act Take Place?

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The Fugitive Slave Act took place in 1850. The law was passed  on September 18th 1850.

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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 happened because of both the Fugitive Slave Clause and The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. The Fugitive Slave Clause is in Article four of the constitution and states that both states and citizens in the United States must deliver runaway slaves back to their Slaveholders/Masters if the Masters request it. That clause got transformed into The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. The 1793 Fugitive Slave Act was complained about by southerners because it wasn't well enforced. These complaints lead to The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This law was better enforced and added more punishments to people who helped runaway slaves and more rewards to the agents that returned them to their owners.

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Inorder to make sure that The  1850 Fugitive Slave Act was enforced, the law also placed some individual cases in the hands of Federal Commissioners. Federal Commissioners were referred to as agents and would be paid for returning slaves to their owners. They were actually paid more to do this that they were to free suspected runaway slaves. This unfair payment led many people in the North to Argue that the law was biased in favor of the South.

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- The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was met with more criticism than the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. This was odd because The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was meant to be a revised version of The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. However, it also makes sense because it involved being harsher on the slaves.

- The Fugitive Slave Acts Were some of the most controversial laws passed in the 19th century

- The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 didn't allow slaves or the people who protected the slaves the right to trial by jury

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Who was involved in the fugitive slave act?

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Who was involved in the fugitive slave act?

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The fugitive slave act involved all the Southern slave owners, and fought between the Northern free soldiers. The southern slave owners would pay the agents to collect and bring back slaves from the north.

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How did the Fugitive slave act help America?

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How did the Fugitive slave act help America?

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The Fugitive slave act didn't really help America, because it was even more tense after the bill was proposed and it was one of the main reasons why the civil war started.

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Posters were hung around towns in the North to make sure everyone was aware of the newest slave laws.  This is a poster that was displayed in Boston, Massachusetts during the time of The Fugitive Slave Act. It warned african americans in Massachusetts to show caution when going places because they didn't want to be caught and taken to the south.

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Use your existing Discovery Education username and password.

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People who would bring back slaves from the North to the South were offered many rewards. The sign below offered a prize of $100 to anyone who would catch and bring back a specific slave from the North. $100 was worth $3,000 in 1850! People who would bring back multiple slaves were offered even more money such as $150.

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Table of Contents

1. What Were the Fugitive Slave Acts?

2. Fugitive Slave Act of 1793

3. Prigg v. Pennsylvania

4. Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

5. Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Acts

The Fugitive Slave Acts were a pair of federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of runaway enslaved people within the territory of the United States. Enacted by Congress in 1793, the first Fugitive Slave Act authorized local governments to seize and return escapees to their owners and imposed penalties on anyone who aided in their flight. Widespread resistance to the 1793 law led to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which added more provisions regarding runaways and levied even harsher punishments for interfering in their capture. The Fugitive Slave Acts were among the most controversial laws of the early 19th century.

What Were the Fugitive Slave Acts?

Statutes regarding refugee slaves existed in America as early as 1643 and the New England Confederation, and slave laws were later enacted in several of the 13 original colonies.

Among others, New York passed a 1705 measure designed to prevent runaways from fleeing to Canada, and Virginia and Maryland drafted laws offering bounties for the capture and return of escaped enslaved people.

By the time of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, many Northern states including Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut had abolished slavery.

Concerned that these new free states would become safe havens for runaways, Southern politicians saw that the Constitution included a "Fugitive Slave Clause." This stipulation (Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3) stated that, "no person held to service or labor" would be released from bondage in the event they escaped to a free state.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793

Despite the inclusion of the Fugitive Slave Clause in the U.S. Constitution, anti-slavery sentiment remained high in the North throughout the late 1780s and early 1790s, and many petitioned Congress to abolish the practice outright.

Bowing to further pressure from Southern lawmakers-who argued the slave debate was driving a wedge between the newly created states-Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793.

This edict was similar to the Fugitive Slave Clause in many ways, but included a more detailed description of how the law was to be put into practice. Most importantly, it decreed that owners of enslaved people and their "agents" had the right to search for escapees within the borders of free states.

In the event they captured a suspected runaway, these hunters had to bring them before a judge and provide evidence proving the person was their property. If court officials were satisfied by their proof-which often took the form of a signed affidavit-the owner would be permitted to take custody of the enslaved person and return to their home state. The law also imposed a $500 penalty on any person who helped harbor or conceal escapees.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was immediately met with a firestorm of criticism. Northerners bristled at the idea of turning their states into a stalking ground for bounty hunters, and many argued the law was tantamount to legalized kidnapping. Some abolitionists organized clandestine resistance groups and built complex networks of safe houses to aid enslaved people in their escape to the North.

Refusing to be complicit in the institution of slavery, most Northern states intentionally neglected to enforce the law. Several even passed so-called "Personal Liberty Laws" that gave accused runaways the right to a jury trial and also protected free blacks, many of whom had been abducted by bounty hunters and sold into slavery.

Did you know? The passage of the Fugitive Slave Acts resulted in many free blacks being illegally captured and sold into slavery. One famous case concerned Solomon Northup, a freeborn black musician who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. in 1841. Northup would spend 12 years enslaved in Louisiana before winning back his freedom in 1853.

Prigg v. Pennsylvania

The legality of Personal Liberty Laws was eventually challenged in the 1842 Supreme Court case Prigg v. Pennsylvania. The case concerned Edward Prigg, a Maryland man who was convicted of kidnapping after he captured a suspected slave in Pennsylvania.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Prigg, setting the precedent that federal law superseded any state measures that attempted to interfere with the Fugitive Slave Act.

Despite decisions like Prigg v. Pennsylvania, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 remained largely unenforced. By the mid-1800s, thousands of enslaved people had poured into free states via networks like the Underground Railroad.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Following increased pressure from Southern politicians, Congress passed a revised Fugitive Slave Act in 1850.

Part of Henry Clay 's famed Compromise of 1850-a group of bills that helped quiet early calls for Southern secession-this new law forcibly compelled citizens to assist in the capture of runaways. It also denied enslaved people the right to a jury trial and increased the penalty for interfering with the rendition process to $1,000 and six months in jail.

In order to ensure the statute was enforced, the 1850 law also placed control of individual cases in the hands of federal commissioners. These agents were paid more for returning a suspected runaway than for freeing them, leading many to argue the law was biased in favor of Southern slaveholders.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was met with even more impassioned criticism and resistance than the earlier measure. States like Vermont and Wisconsin passed new measures intended to bypass and even nullify the law, and abolitionists redoubled their efforts to assist runaways.

The Underground Railroad reached its peak in the 1850s, with many enslaved people fleeing to Canada to escape U.S. jurisdiction.

Resistance also occasionally boiled over into riots and revolts. In 1851 a mob of antislavery activists rushed a Boston courthouse and forcibly liberated an escapee named Shadrach Minkins from federal custody. Similar rescues were later made in New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Acts

Widespread opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 saw the law become virtually unenforceable in certain Northern states, and by 1860 only around 330 enslaved people had been successfully returned to their Southern masters.

Republican and Free Soil congressmen regularly introduced bills and resolutions related to repealing the Fugitive Slave Act, but the law persisted until after the beginning of the Civil War. It wasn't until June 28, 1864, that both of the Fugitive Slave Acts were repealed by an act of Congress.

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Fugitive Slave Acts - Definition, 1793 & 1850 | HISTORY

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The Fugitive Slave Acts, passed in 1793 and 1850, were federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of runaway enslaved people within the United States.