Fugitive Slave Act In Action Research Paper

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Ryah Benner
Fugitive Slave Act in Action
History 1301
Tuesday & Thursday
8:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
Fall 2014

The Fugitive Slave Act enforced the Fugitive Slave Law by forcing the people in the North to uphold the Fugitive Slave Law, by assisting in the capture and return of escapees (runaway slaves). If anyone from the North was found to be hindering the arrest of or harboring a fugitive slave, they could be imprisoned, or charged with a hefty fine, or even charged with treason. The Law called for all captured escapees to be tried in front of a commissioner who was to be paid based on the verdict; “$10 if [the] fugitive was returned to slavery but only $5 if the fugitive was freed.” In other words, the “special commissioner” was given a bribe (Digital History).
The …show more content…
Flint.”
As depicted in the ad from Jacobs’ book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (112), citizens were informed of the runaway’s appearance, the reward to be presented upon return, and the fugitive slave law itself.
To add on to the sorrows this law brought, it enforced the idea (in full) that the “child follow[ed] the condition of the mother” (Jacobs, 89). This implied that a slave mother had no right to her child(ren), taking in to consideration that many children born into slavery were bastards (children born out of wedlock, or in this case, born, out of wedlock, to a slave holder and slave). Therefore, the child was considered to be the slave holder’s (or parent’s) property (hence the reasoning behind the child’s sentence).
In addition to this, it was believed that the “[child’s] being there” would provide leverage in the event of an [attempted] escape, or simply “fetter [the child’s parent] to the spot” and leave the slave holder worry free (Jacobs, 108). In other words, the slave holder had the right to do with the child as he or she pleased; either keep the child as long as he or she was fit to work, or sell the child as soon as he or she was of age and turn a profit without
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