The Fugitive Slave Act And Its Consequences

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) Troubled Times: the Tumultuous 1850s The Fugitive Slave Act And Its Consequences (Key Notes and Summary) Key Notes - The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 exacerbated tensions between the various sections of society and crushed any dreams of reaching a solution. - Those from the North and the Midwest who assisted runaway slaves or refused to assist in their apprehension faced harsh punishments. - The legislation established federal commissioners, many of whom were in favor of financial benefit by sending runaway slaves back to the South. - The law's implementation exacerbated dread in the North and supported the notion that a federal policy controlled by "Slave Power" existed. - Tens of thousands of slaves were able to escape thanks to the Underground Railroad and kind people in the North. - Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman rose to fame as an Underground Railroad escort for many enslaved individuals. - Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists favored violent opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act. - The arrest and subsequent re-enslavement of Anthony Burns in Virginia sparked widespread demonstrations and strengthened hostility to the act throughout the North. - The graphic depictions of slavery in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" impacted the abolitionist movement and public opinion. - The division of families and the degrading impacts of slavery on slaves and slaveholders were highlighted in Stowe's writing. - "Uncle Tom's Cabin" shot to fame and aided in the expansion of the abolitionist cause. - Northern states asserted their own autonomy over federal control by passing personal liberty acts, disobeying the Fugitive Slave Act. Summary After the Compromise of 1850, tensions increased and aspirations for intersectional unity were dashed by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. When they helped freedom seekers or resisted attempts to apprehend them, people from the North and the Midwest suffered harsh punishments, which fueled the myth that a "Slave Power" had excessive influence over government policies. Abolitionist action was sparked by the law's enforcement, which instilled dread in the North and was personified by Harriet Tubman's audacious efforts on the Underground Railroad. Events like the Anthony Burns case, which resulted from resistance to the act, strengthened Northern opposition and prompted legislative safeguards safeguarding individual liberty. Abolitionist feeling was further stoked by Harriet Beecher Stowe's groundbreaking novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which powerfully illustrated the inhumanity of slavery, inspired readers throughout the world, and demonstrated the ability of literature to influence public opinion and subvert ingrained social conventions. The Fugitive Slave Act And Its Consequences Notes The Fugitive Slave Act became a major cause of strife, dashed hopes that the Compromise of 1850 would end the sectional problem. Northerners and Midwesterners who helped individuals who had fled their captivity or refused to join operations to apprehend freedom-seekers faced severe penalties and jail sentences under the government law. Many people in the north believed they were compelled by law to serve as slave traders against their choice. The bill also created a new board of federal commissioners whose job it was to determine what would happen to freedom seekers who were brought before them. Abolitionist groups increased their efforts to prevent kidnappings when slave-catchers in certain cases even brought in free Black people from the north (Figure 14.6). Since the commissioners got 10 dollars for each African American transferred to the South and only five if they determined the individual who appeared before them was truly free, they had a financial incentive to return recaptured enslaved and free Black Americans to the slaveholding South. The accused runaways were unable to testify on their own behalf, and the commissioners did not utilize juries. The law's implementation further frightened the North and convinced many that there was a "Slave Power"—a small group of affluent slaveholders who controlled a disproportionate amount of the federal government and shaped both foreign and domestic policy to serve their interests. Even while Southerners would often claim on states' rights, the Fugitive Slave Act demonstrated that slaveholders were prepared to utilize the federal government's authority to force individuals in other states to submit to their wishes. Pro-slavery Southerners looked to the federal government to defend and advance the institution of slavery, even as they rejected the use of federal power to stop the spread of slavery. In fact, relatively few freedom seekers were apprehended within a year after their escape; in the early 1850s, there may have been as few as a thousand such cases annually. The majority remained in the South, living in cities and disguising themselves as free Black people. However, a wide network of free Black and White individuals in the north who sympathized with fugitives and offered safe havens and safe transit out of the South was a source of concern for southerners. Slavery has always upset Quakers, and they were particularly involved in this network. Historians estimate that between 50,000 and 100,000 slaves utilized the Underground Railroad in their attempts to gain freedom, however the exact number of enslaved individuals who did so is unknown. Concurrently, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act significantly elevated the risks associated with apprehension. The greatest hope for thousands of freedom seekers to live better lives free from the grasp of slaveholders was to leave the United States entirely and travel to southern Ontario, Canada, where slavery had been outlawed. Among the hundreds of enslaved individuals who managed to free themselves via the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman, who gained notoriety for her assistance in assisting other enslaved individuals in escaping. Tubman, who endured immense hardships as a slave but found comfort in Christianity, was born into slavery in Maryland in 1822. She managed to escape in the late 1840s. She made over a dozen trips back to the South to guide other enslaved individuals—including her relatives and friends—along the Underground Railroad to freedom. In the North, the Fugitive Slave Act sparked strong feelings. Abolitionists like Frederick Douglass felt that using violence was necessary to oppose the law. Abolitionists attempted to shield fugitives from federal authorities in Boston and other places. One such example included Anthony Burns, who traveled to Boston in 1853 after fleeing slavery in Virginia (Figure 14.8). Following Burns' 1854 arrest by federal agents, abolitionists organized many large-scale protests and a confrontation at the courtroom. Though they made every attempt, Burns was sent back to Virginia when federal forces were used by President Franklin Pierce to support the Fugitive Slave Act. Burns's freedom was finally purchased by Boston abolitionists. However, the Burns event and Pierce's reaction only served to reinforce the perception of a southern power plot among many northerners. The most significant response to the Fugitive Slave Act was a book called Uncle Tom's Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe, a Connecticut native, used personal accounts of enslaved people's experiences after getting married and relocating to Ohio, which was then on the western border of the nation, to write it. Her work was initially published as a collection of stories in the National Era, a Free-Soil journal, in 1851. The following year, it was released as a book. Stowe related the story of slaves who were bought and sold by a master in Kentucky. Uncle Tom is, in fact, sold down the river, but little Eliza makes off with her infant (Figure 14.9). The narrative emphasized the notion that slavery was wrong because it tore families apart, separating husbands and wives from one another and separating children from their parents. Additionally, Stowe highlighted the ways in which White citizens were perverted by slavery. The brutality of the slave dealer Simon Legree, who beats enslaved people and sexually abuses an enslaved woman, and the cruelty of some of the White slaveholders in the novel—who genuinely believe that enslaved people don't feel things the way that White people do— showcase the dehumanizing effect of the institution even on those who benefit from it. As the most read book of the nineteenth century, Stowe's book became an overnight sensation and sparked a number of musicals and theater plays. It is still in publication today and has been translated into sixty languages. Many people in the north were persuaded of the validity of the abolitionist movement by its message about the ills of slavery. The tale also showed how women may influence public opinion. Despite being unable to vote, Stowe and other American women felt that they had a moral duty to shape the nation's conscience. Anthony Burns also found expression in the eight northern state legislatures that established measures pertaining to personal liberty. These rules made it clear that anybody arrested who sought freedom would be given legal protection by the state, including the right to a jury trial. The personal liberty statutes demonstrated to Southerners that Northerners had little regard for the Fugitive Slave Act or the property rights of slaveholders, and they also served as a glaring illustration of how the North had used state sovereignty to subvert federal authority.