Preview

Fugitive Slave Act Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
704 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fugitive Slave Act Research Paper
The Fugitive Slave Act | The Publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s, Uncle Tom’s Cabin

On September 8th, 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was created as a compromise. It stated to capture any fugitive/ runaway slave and to be returned to their owner because they considered slaves as their property. If anyone in the North were to be aiding a fugitive, they would be fined and imprisoned for about six months. Sometimes, slaves would escape by a secret system called the Underground Railroad. Later, the North passed a law saying that any escaped slave who came to the North should at least have a trial to be free. The Fugitive Slave Act angered the North greatly because they were responsible, which made them more determined to end slavery. During
…show more content…
Even though he and his wife, Emily, are kind to their slaves, they still had to sell two of them in order to earn money. However, earlier, Millie promised Eliza that she wouldn’t sell her, but then, Eliza overhears Mr. and Mrs. Shelby discussing about selling Eliza and her Uncle Tom. She then decided to runaway with her child. After Uncle Tom was sold, he was placed on a riverboat where he eventually saved and met a girl named Eva. She then told her father, Augustine St. Clare, about Tom and he purchased him from a slave trader. St. Clare promised to free Tom, but before he did, he got murdered; someone stabbed him to death when he was entering a tavern in New Orleans. Uncle Tom and another slave, Emmeline, was later sold to a very vicious slave owner, Legree, at an auction and brought them to Louisiana. Legree hated Tom because he believed in God and confronted slaves kindly. Tom also met another slave named Cassy, who killed her son because he was going to be sold. Afterwards, Eliza and her two sons, Harry and George, gained their freedom when they escaped to Canada. Uncle Tom then tries to convince Cassy, to escape, who eventually took Emmeline with her. When Tom refused to tell Legree where both girls went, he orders someone to execute Tom. Shortly before his death, George arrives to buy Tom’s freedom, but discovers that he’s too late. Cassy and Emmeline later meets George sister and Cassy also discovers that Eliza was her long lost

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The tale of Uncle Tom’s Cabin begins in the parlor of the Shelby household, as Mr. Shelby discusses how many slaves he will need to sell to Mr. Haley, a slave trader, to relieve him of his debts after falling upon hard times. Shelby ultimately decides to sell Tom, a “good, steady, sensible, pious fellow” (Stowe 2). Eliza, Mrs. Shelby’s favorite slave, overhears the negotiations for the sale of her son, Harry, as well and promptly decides that they must run away to Canada that same night. She hopes to ultimately reunite with her husband, George, who has previously decided that he will run away from his master to Canada. Eliza also warns Tom and his wife that they too should flee. …

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fugitive Slave Laws prohibited the harboring of run away slaves. It was first passed in 1793 but was amended later to reduce tensions, though it had the opposite affect. Some say it nationalized the crisis…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The first Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1793. It stated that any slave owner could turn in any fugitive slave with proof of course. Additionally, those who provided shelter for the fugitives were also liable to arrest. However, this act began to lose its touch. Abolitionists began ignoring it and created The Underground Railroad. So, hoping to revive the act, another one was passed in 1950.…

    • 67 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress in 1850. This was part of The Compromise of 1850 between slave states and free states. At the time, there were many slaves that were escaping utilizing the help of the Underground Railroad and finding refuge in free states, although it’s possible the number was exaggerated by Southerners since there was no way to verify a true amount. The law required that if slaves were captured they would be returned to their masters. The law only required an affidavit from the master to a federal official. The result was many free blacks being falsely accused…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wilmot Proviso Tension

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This benefitted the southerners because many of them depended on slaves economically, so the Fugitive Slave Act was like insurance, that way they could get their slaves back if and when they ran away.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Mr. Shelby’s slaves lived together in a cabin. Of these slaves living in the cabin is Shelby’s most reliable, Tom. He aids the slaves in keeping their values. Much of this novel takes place outside of Mr. Shelby’s plantation. Throughout this novel, the cabin travels with Tom. This cabin is a place of faith, hope, love, and forgiveness. Tom’s personality helps recreate the atmosphere originally found in the cabin in the new places to which he is transported. One can see how these valued principles travel with Tom in the events of him finding that he is to be sold, helping a woman with her cotton, and his convincing Cassy of God.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The newly passed Fugitive Slave Act made it a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed offi cials to arrest those slaves in free areas. Slaveholders were permitted to take suspected fugitives to U.S. commissioners, who decided their fate. The Fugitive Slave Act upset northerners, who were uncomfortable with the commissioners’ power. Northerners disliked the idea of a trial without a jury. They also disapproved of commissioners’ higher fees for returning slaves. Most were horrifi ed that some free African Americans had been captured and sent to the South. Most northerners opposed to the Act peacefully resisted, but violence did erupt. In 1854 Anthony Burns, a fugitive slave from Virginia, was arrested in Boston. Abolitionists used force while…

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Schwartz’s article in The New England Quarterly describes how free slaves and abolitionists in Boston responded to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. It also discusses why the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was more successful in strengthening the rights of slave owners than previous laws. The article describes the effects of the fugitive act from the opposing point of view. This provides an increased understanding of the impact it had on free slaves. It also illustrates the attempts by white abolitionists to oppose the new act such as the formation of vigilance committees.…

    • 94 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed as a part of the Compromise of 1850. This act forced any federal official who did not arrest a runaway slave liable to pay a fine. This enraged abolitionist and caused their efforts against slavery to increase since it was one of the most controversial parts of the Compromise of 1850. This act increased the activity as fleeing slaves made their way to Canada.…

    • 537 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Constitution has an article that says that fugitives from industry must be sent back to the South if they were caught in the North. Also, this gave slavery what people like to call more territory. That meant that it made slavery a global organization. Although the northern states did have the ability to abolish slavery, they could not pass up their own Constitutional priority to enforce the slave laws that were in the southern states. Some fugitives even carried with them the officially authorized status of slavery, even in a territory that didn’t have any slavery at all. In reality, most of the states did not do much about this. That is the reason the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was enacted, which made the federal government responsible for tracking down and apprehending fugitive slaves in the North, and sending them back to the South. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, one might say, was the most powerful exercise of federal authority within the United States in the whole era before the Civil…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Passed by the congress in september on the 18th of 1850 , the fugitive slave act. The Fugitive Slave Act were a set of federal laws. The laws were for runaway slaves. It gave the permission to the people who owned the slaves to capture them if they ran away within the United States. The act was really made in 1793 by congress. The widespread of resistance led to it becoming the fugitive slave act of 1850, it led to more provisions and harsher punishments.…

    • 85 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Fugitive Slave Act 1850

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was another additional information to the previous law of the same name by the law passed by Congress in 1793 to help the return of slaves who had safe to leave from their owners to freedom.…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Opposition to Slavery DBQ

    • 977 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 1793, the United States Congress enacted the first Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Acts were a pair of federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of fugitive, or runaway, slaves within the territory of the United States. The first Fugitive Slave Act authorized local governments to capture and return escaped slaves to their owners, and imposed penalties on anyone who aided in their escape. If a person was caught helping slaves escape, they would be fined, and runaway slaves were forbidden to testify on their behalf in court. An example of a person who helped slaves escape was Harriet Tubman—escaped slave; born into slavery in the state of Maryland. She was the most famous woman conductor of the Underground Railroad because of how successful she was. Tubman’s “rescues became legendary” and she had “extraordinary determination and skill.” (Out of Many, page 327). She made about thirteen to fifteen trips to the South and led approximately 60 to 70 slaves in total to freedom.…

    • 977 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civil War Compromises

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The north was satisfied with the discontinuation of the selling of slaves in Washington D.C. They were aware that abolishing slavery was not going to be simple but they put in effort to prevent the spread of slavery to the west. The south strongly desired the spread of slavery to new territories. However, they were kept satisfied with the Fugitive Slave Act, which was being more strictly enforced. This act made it so that slaves that had escaped using the Underground Railroad would be returned to their owners, as long as the owners had proof or evidence of ownership. Anyone assisting the escape of a slave would be charged with a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    African Americans have faced great difficulties in owning and having a voice and respect in the early years in the United States of America. For far too long, they have faced oppression by the whites. However, they no longer accepted the mistreatment and double standards they faced and took a stand and fought for they believed in. Even though African Americans did not have much rights as families, the fact that they stood up for themselves, to bring peace, honor, and freedom was enough so that they can start a new life and many new opportunities to start a whole new way of living.…

    • 2548 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays