Fugitive Slave Act

One of the most controversial statutes of the pre-civil war period is the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 (Fugitive Slave Act). This law emphasized the differing regional concerns of the southern and northern states, and encouraged civil disobedience among many citizens of the northern and border states. It has been estimated that thousands of slaves were smuggled into the northern states and Canada during the 1850's (Villarruel 1438).

The Fugitive Slave Law was widely disputed because of the compromises conceded to Southerners. Several amendments were added to the 1850 Act in order to fill the loopholes left open by earlier Fugitive Slave Acts (Act of 1793). The 1850 Act created a more efficient system of administering and enforcing the obligation of citizens and state officials to return fugitive slaves to their owners.

The basic presumption of the Fugitive Slave Law was that slaves were property which, when found, must be returned to their rightful owners. The Constitution even contained a provision which stated that any person owing "service or labour" to another who escaped from his owner, would be "delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom Such Service or Labour may be due" (US Const.). Northerners did not dispute the notion that Southerners might have property rights which entitled them to the return of lost property. Some moderate northern citizens even conceded that southern slave owners might be entitled to the return of their slaves. The Fugitive Slave Law

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Since blacks were not considered persons by the southern states, they had to be considered the "property" of their masters (Brown and Kohn 185). Commentators such as Horace Mann however, noted that plaintiffs bringing suits under the common law were entitled to "due process," and that the cause of liberty was certainly more important than any property right. Hence, a "seizure" whose object was permanent bondage must be inherently unreasonable (Morris 138). Suspects were also denied the right to writs of habeas corpus. Protestors of the Fugitive Slave Law based their objections to the law on the "evils" of slavery. However, most state courts did not discuss the morality of slavery and the status of black persons in their decisions under the 1850 law. Instead, the courts focused on the constitutionality of allowing administrative officers to decide questions over an area which the Constitution gave Congress jurisdiction (Brown and Kohn 183). Northerners feared that the commissioners appointed to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law would be encouraged toward bias in favor of the slave claimants. Commissioners were paid $10.00 for every suspect they found to be an actual fugitive, and $5.00 for every suspect that was determined

Category: Government - F