Broadside announcing the "Fugitive Slave Bill" of 1850. Passed by the Senate and House of Representatives and signed into law by President Millard Fillmore, the "Fugitive Slave Act" gave enslavers greater power in capturing freedom seekers, even those who had fled to free states.
The Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850 was enacted by the United States Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850. The law expanded upon earlier fugitive slave provisions dating to 1793 by establishing stricter procedures for the recovery of enslaved individuals who escaped to free states. It required federal officials to assist in the arrest and return of fugitives, imposed penalties on individuals who interfered with the process, and created a system of federal commissioners authorized to decide cases without a jury trial.
The law was intended to address longstanding disputes between free and slave states over the enforcement of fugitive slave provisions. Its passage generated significant public discussion and legal challenges across the country. In Northern states, local resistance movements, court cases, and state-level legislation often arose in response to the law's enforcement. In Southern states, the measure was viewed as an essential guarantee of property rights and interstate cooperation under the Constitution.
The Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850 remained in effect until the Civil War, when the Confiscation Acts and later the Emancipation Proclamation rendered its provisions inoperative. Congress formally repealed the statute in 1864.
This collection consists of a single broadside dated September 18, 1850, announcing the passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850. The broadside provides contemporary printed documentation of the law's adoption as part of the Compromise of 1850 and reflects how the legislation was communicated to the public at the time of its enactment.
The collection is arranged in one box containing one item.
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Descriptions updated by Ashlyn Racine, May 2023
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.