Ch. 4.3. Primary Source: The Fugitives from Justice Act, 1850
The Mexican Cession Territories. By 1850 sectional disagreements centering on slavery became focused on the need to consider whether slavery would be allowed in the western lands acquired after the Mexican-American War (1845-46), which were known collectively as the Mexican Cession. In 1849 California requested permission to enter the Union as a free state. Adding more free state senators to Congress would destroy the balance between slave and free states that had existed since the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
Debate in the Senate. In January, 1850, Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky proposed a series of resolutions to forge a compromise. These resolutions were debated in the Senate for seven months in one of the most famous congressional debates in American history. Clay’s legislative package failed, but Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois stepped forward with substitute bills, which passed both Houses.
The Compromise of 1850. This compromise consisted of five laws passed in Sept., 1850, all of which concerned the issue of slavery: 1) the Fugitive Slave Act was amended; 2) the slave trade in Washington, D.C., was abolished; 3) California was admitted as a free state; 4) a territorial government was created in Utah; and 5) a boundary dispute between Texas and New Mexico was settled, which also established a territorial government in New Mexico. Although these laws addressed the immediate crisis, one aspect of the compromise—a strengthened fugitive slave act—soon began to tear at sectional peace.
The Fugitives From Justice Act. Also known as the Fugitive Slave Act, this law reiterated the obligation of all federal officials to assist in the arrest and return of fugitive slaves (see the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793). It imposed heavy penalties (e.g., $1000 fines) on officials or anyone else who did not cooperate, and it did not allow the suspected slave a jury trial. Furthermore, the law permitted those seeking a fugitive slave to prove their case before a judge with only minimal proof, such as by presenting an affidavit (sworn statement) from the owner, and it offered rewards to the officials responsible for making arrests of alleged fugitives. This law was passed to overcome the resistance of northern states to the capture of fugitive slaves through such means as ‘personal liberty’ laws that provided suspected slaves with various procedural protections (see above, Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 1842).
Sept. 18, 1850. 9 Stat. 462.
[Sec. 1] Be it enacted…: That the persons who have been, or may hereafter be, appointed commissioners…, are authorized to exercise the powers that any justice of the peace, or other magistrate of any of the United States may exercise…, are hereby authorized and required to exercise and discharge all the powers and duties conferred by this act…
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Circuit Courts of the United States, and the Superior Courts of each organized Territory of the United States, shall from time to time enlarge the number of commissioners, with a view to afford reasonable facilities to reclaim fugitives from labor…
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners above named shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the judges of the Circuit and District Courts of the United States…, and shall grant certificates to such claimants… to take and remove such fugitives from service or labor…
Sec. 5. …it shall be the duty of all marshals and deputy marshals to obey and execute all warrants and precepts issued under the provisions of this act… with authority… to summon and call to their aid the bystanders, or posse comitatus of the proper county, when necessary to ensure a faithful observance of the clause of the Constitution referred to, in conformity with the provisions of this act; and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and assist in the prompt and efficient execution of this law…
Sec. 6. [a] And be it further enacted: That when a person held to service or labor in any State or Territory of the United States, has heretofore or shall hereafter escape into another State or Territory of the United States,
[6b] the person or persons to whom such service or labor may be due, or his, her, or their agent or attorney, duly authorized…, may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person, either by procuring a warrant from some one of the courts, judges, or commissioners aforesaid, of the proper circuit, district, or county…, or by seizing and arresting such fugitive…, and by taking… such person… before such court, judge, or commissioner, whose duty it shall be to hear and determine the case of such claimant in a summary manner;
[6c] …and with proof, also by affidavit, of the identity of the person whose service or labor is claimed to be due as aforesaid, that the person so arrested does in fact owe service or labor to the person or persons claiming him or her, in the State or Territory from which such fugitive may have escaped as aforesaid, and that said person escaped,
[6d] to make out and deliver to such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, a certificate setting forth the substantial facts…, with authority… to use such reasonable force and restraint as may be necessary… to take and remove such fugitive person back to the State or Territory whence he or she may have escaped as aforesaid.
[6e] In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence; and the certificates…mentioned, shall be conclusive of the right of the person or persons in whose favor granted, to remove such fugitive to the State or Territory from which he escaped, and shall prevent all molestation of such person or persons by any process issued by any court, judge, magistrate, or other person whomsoever.
Sec. 7. …any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent or attorney, …or shall aid, abet, or assist such person so owing service or labor as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from such claimant, his agent or attorney…, or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive, …shall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction…, and shall moreover forfeit and pay, by way of civil damages to the party injured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one thousand dollars for each fugitive so lost as aforesaid…
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the marshals, their deputies, and the clerks of the said District and Territorial Courts…, shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for his services in each case, upon the delivery of the said certificate to the claimant, his agent or attorney; or a fee of five dollars in cases where the proof shall not, in the opinion of such commissioner, warrant such certificate and delivery… The person or persons authorized to execute the process to be issued by such commissioner for the arrest and detention of fugitives from service or labor as aforesaid, shall also be entitled to a fee of five dollars each for each person he or they may arrest…
Sources: the National Archives site on “Our Documents,” under the Compromise of 1850 (from which the above introductory comments are adapted); the Library of Congress’s site on the “Primary Documents in American History,” under The Compromise of 1850 (with many related texts); and Teaching American History.org, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (text only).