Fugitive Slave Acts

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793

Although the Constitution thus protected slave owners against the loss of their workers, the provision did not specify any particular process to assure its enforcement. This was particularly important for slave owners whose property was in states adjoining free states, where escape north was easier, or for those traveling in the free states who wished to take their slaves with them. This, of course, included the president, members of Congress, and other government officials whose duties required them to be in free states. The answer was the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which was designed to make sure that owners could recover their slaves in any state regardless of local or state laws. Section 3 of the law stated that the owner or the owner's agent could apprehend any suspected fugitive and bring him or her before an appropriate federal, state, or local court. There, upon presentation of oral testimony or written evidence that the person in custody was in fact a fugitive, the presiding court official was required to provide a written certification that would allow the owner or agent to return the fugitive to the state or territory from which the fugitive originally fled. This provided the legal process by which fugitives could be apprehended, identified, and returned.

As a means of enforcement, Section 4 of the act provided that anyone interfering with the process, attempting to conceal or rescue a fugitive, or obstructing the owner or agent in apprehending a fugitive would be fined $500, then the equivalent of about twice the annual income of the average worker. The act was signed into law by President George Washington, who himself tried on two occasions to use its provisions to reclaim an escaped slave who was his servant while he was in Philadelphia.

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