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359
A. APPENDIX A
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AND NATIONAL ACTS RELATIVE
TO FUGITIVE SLAVES, 1787–1850
Fugitive Clause in Northwest Ordinance of 1787. [Chapter II, p. 20.]
1787, July 13. Art. VI. "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude in the said Territory, otherwise than in the punishment
of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted;
provided, always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom
labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States,
such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person
claiming his or her labor or service aforesaid." Read first time, July 11,
1787. Passed July 13, 1787.—Journals of Congress, XII, 84, 92.
Fugitive Clause in the Constitution. [Chapter II, p. 20.]
1787, Sept. 13. Art. IV, § 2. "No person held to service or labor
in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in
consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such
service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to
whom such service or labor may be due."—Revised Statutes of the
United States, I, 18.
First Fugitive Slave Act. [Chapter II, p. 21.]
1793, Feb. 12. An Act respecting fugitives from justice and persons
escaping from the service of their masters.
- Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the
executive authority of any state in the Union, or of either of the territories
northwest or south of the river Ohio, shall demand any person
as a fugitive from justice, of the executive authority of any such state
or territory to which such person shall have fled, and shall moreover
produce the copy of an indictment found, or an affidavit made before
a magistrate of any state or territory as aforesaid, charging the person
360so demanded, with having committed treason, felony or other crime,
certified as authentic by the governor or chief magistrate of the state or
territory from whence the person so charged fled, it shall be the duty of
the executive authority of the state or territory to which such person
shall have fled, to cause him or her to be arrested and secured, and
notice of the arrest to be given to the executive authority making such
demand, or to the agent of such authority appointed to receive the
fugitive, and to cause the fugitive to be delivered to such agent when
he shall appear: But if no such agent shall appear within six months
from the time of the arrest, the prisoner may be discharged. And all
costs or expenses incurred in the apprehending, securing, and transmitting
such fugitive to the state or territory making such demand, shall be
paid by such state or territory. - And be it further enacted, That any agent, appointed as aforesaid,
who shall receive the fugitive into his custody, shall be empowered
to transport him or her to the state or territory from which he or she
shall have fled. And if any person or persons shall by force set at
liberty, or rescue the fugitive from such agent while transporting, as
aforesaid, the person or persons so offending shall, on conviction, be fined
not exceeding five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding
one year. - And be it also enacted, That when a person held to labour in
any of the United States, or in either of the territories on the northwest
or south of the river Ohio, under the laws thereof, shall escape into any
other of the said states or territory, the person to whom such labour or
service may be due, his agent or attorney, is hereby empowered to seize
or arrest such fugitive from labour, and to take him or her before any
judge of the circuit or district courts of the United States, residing or
being within the state, or before any magistrate of a county, city or town
corporate, wherein such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof
to the satisfaction of such judge or magistrate, either by oral testimony
or affidavit taken before and certified by a magistrate of any such state or
territory, that the person so seized or arrested, doth, under the laws of the
state or territory from which he or she fled, owe service or labour to the
person claiming him or her, it shall be the duty of such judge or magistrate
to give a certificate thereof to such claimant, his agent or attorney,
which shall be sufficient warrant for removing the said fugitive from
labour, to the state or territory from which he or she fled. - And be if further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly
and willingly obstruct or hinder such claimant, his agent or attorney, in
so seizing or arresting such fugitive from labour, or shall rescue such
fugitive from such claimant, his agent or attorney, when so arrested pursuant
to the authority herein given or declared; or shall harbour or conceal
361such person after notice that he or she was a fugitive from labour, as
aforesaid, shall, for either of the said offences, forfeit and pay the sum of
five hundred dollars. Which penalty may be recovered by and for the
benefit of such claimant, by action of debt, in any court proper to try the
same; saving moreover to the person claiming such labour or service, his
right of action for or on account of the said injuries or either of them."—
Statutes at Large, I, 302–305.
"Section 1.
"Sec. 2.
"Sec. 3.
"Sec. 4.
Fugitive Slave Clause in the Missouri Compromise.
[Chapter X, p. 298.]
1820, March 19. The Missouri Compromise provided "that any persons
escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed
in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully
reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor, or
service, as aforesaid."—Annals of Congress, 16 Cong. 1 Sess., 1469, 1587.
Second Fugitive Slave Act. [Chapter II, p. 22.]
1850, Sept. 18. "An Act to amend, and supplementary to, the Act entitled
'An Act respecting Fugitives from Justice, and Persons escaping
from the Service of their Masters,' approved February twelfth, one thousand
seven hundred and ninety-three.
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the persons who have been,
or may hereafter be, appointed commissioners, in virtue of any act of
Congress, by the Circuit Courts of the United States, and who, in consequence
of such appointment, are authorized to exercise the powers that
any justice of the peace, or other magistrate of any of the United States,
may exercise in respect to offenders for any crime or offence against the
United States, by arresting, imprisoning, or bailing the same under and
by virtue of the thirty-third section, of the act of the twenty-fourth of
September, seventeen hundred and eighty-nine, entitled 'An Act to
establish the judicial courts of the United States,' shall be, and are
hereby, authorized and required to exercise and discharge all the powers
and duties conferred by this act.
- And be it further enacted, That the Superior Court of each
organized Territory of the United States shall have the same power to
appoint commissioners to take acknowledgments of bail and affidavits,
and to take depositions of witnesses in civil causes, which is now possessed
by the Circuit Court of the United States; and all commissioners
who shall hereafter be appointed for such purposes by the Superior Court
of any organized Territory of the United States, shall possess all the
powers, and exercise all the duties, conferred by law upon the commissioners
362appointed by the Circuit Courts of the United States for similar
purposes, and shall moreover exercise and discharge all the powers and
duties conferred by this act. - 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, and to the prompt discharge of the duties imposed by this act. - 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, in their respective circuits and
districts within the several States, and the judges of the Superior Courts
of the Territories, severally and collectively, in term-time and vacation;
and shall grant certificates to such claimants, upon satisfactory proof
being made, with authority to take and remove such fugitives from service
or labor, under the restrictions herein contained, to the State or Territory
from which such persons may have escaped or fled. - And be it further enacted, That 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, when to them directed; and should
any marshal or deputy marshal refuse to receive such warrant, or other
process, when tendered, or to use all proper means diligently to execute
the same, he shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in the sum of one thousand
dollars, to the use of such claimant, on the motion of such claimant
by the Circuit or District Court for the district of such marshal; and
after arrest of such fugitive, by such marshal or his deputy, or whilst at
any time in his custody under the provisions of this act, should such
fugitive escape, whether with or without the assent of such marshal or
his deputy, such marshal shall be liable, on his official bond, to be prosecuted
for the benefit of such claimant, for the full value of the service or
labor of said fugitive in the State, Territory, or District whence he
escaped: and the better to enable the said commissioners, when thus
appointed, to execute their duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity
with the requirements of the Constitution of the United States and of
this act, they are hereby authorized and empowered, within their counties
respectively, to appoint, in writing under their hands, any one or
more suitable persons, from time to time, to execute all such warrants
and other process as may be issued by them in the lawful performance
of their respective duties; with authority to such commissioners, or the
persons to be appointed by them, to execute process as aforesaid, to summon
and call to their aid the bystanders, or posse comitatus of the proper
county, when necessary to insure a faithful observance of the clause of
the Constitution referred to, in conformity with the provisions of this act;
363and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and assist in the
prompt and efficient execution of this law, whenever their services may
be required, as aforesaid, for that purpose; and said warrants shall run,
and be executed by said officers, anywhere in the State within which
they are issued. - 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, the person or persons to whom such service or labor may be due,
or his, her, or their agent or attorney, duly authorized, by power of attorney,
in writing, acknowledged and certified under the seal of some legal
officer or court of the State or Territory in which the same may be
executed, 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, for the apprehension of
such fugitive from service or labor, or by seizing and arresting such fugitive,
where the same can be done without process, and by taking, or
causing such person to be taken, forthwith before such court, judge, or
commissioner, whose duty it shall be to hear and determine the case of
such claimant in a summary manner; and upon satisfactory proof being
made, by deposition or affidavit, in writing, to be taken and certified
by such court, judge, or commissioner, or by other satisfactory testimony,
duly taken and certified by some court, magistrate, justice of the peace,
or other legal officer authorized to administer an oath and take depositions
under the laws of the State or Territory from which such person
owing service or labor may have escaped, with a certificate of such magistracy
or other authority, as aforesaid, with the seal of the proper court
or officer thereto attached, which seal shall be sufficient to establish the
competency of the proof, 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,
to make out and deliver to such claimant, his or her agent or attorney,
a certificate setting forth the substantial facts as to the service or labor
due from such fugitive to the claimant, and of his or her escape from the
State or Territory in which such service or labor was due, to the State
or Territory in which he or she was arrested, with authority to such
claimant, or his or her agent or attorney, to use such reasonable force and
restraint as may be necessary, under the circumstances of the case, to take
and remove such fugitive person back to the State or Territory whence
he or she may have escaped as aforesaid. In no trial or hearing under
this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence;
364and the certificates in this and the first [fourth] section 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. - And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly
and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent
or attorney, or any person or persons lawfully assisting him, her, or them,
from arresting such a fugitive from service or labor, either with or without
process as aforesaid, or shall rescue, or attempt to rescue, such
fugitive from service or labor, from the custody of such claimant, his
or her agent or attorney, or other person or persons lawfully assisting as
aforesaid, when so arrested, pursuant to the authority herein given and
declared; 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 other person or persons legally authorized as
aforesaid; or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive, so as to prevent the
discovery and arrest of such person, after notice or knowledge of the
fact that such person was a fugitive from service or labor as aforesaid,
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 before the District Court of the United States for
the district in which such offence may have been committed, or before
the proper court of criminal jurisdiction, if committed within any one
of the organized Territories of the United States; 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, to be recovered by action of debt, in any of the District or
Territorial Courts aforesaid, within whose jurisdiction the said offence
may have been committed. - And be it further enacted, That the marshals, their deputies,
and the clerks of the said District and Territorial Courts, shall be paid,
for their services, the like fees as may be allowed to them for similar
services in other cases; and where such services are rendered exclusively
in the arrest, custody, and delivery of the fugitive to the claimant, his
or her agent or attorney, or where such supposed fugitive may be discharged
out of custody for the want of sufficient proof as aforesaid, then
such fees are to be paid in the whole by such claimant, his agent or
attorney; and in all cases where the proceedings are before a commissioner,
he 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
or her agent or attorney; or a fee of five dollars in cases where the proof
365shall not, in the opinion of such commissioner, warrant such certificate
and delivery, inclusive of all services incident to such arrest and examination,
to be paid, in either case, by the claimant, his or her agent or attorney.
The person or persons authorized to execute the process to be
issued by such commissioners 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 and take before any
such commissioner as aforesaid, at the instance and request of such
claimant, with such other fees as may be deemed reasonable by such
commissioner for such other additional services as may be necessarily
performed by him or them; such as attending at the examination, keeping
the fugitive in custody, and providing him with food and lodging
during his detention, and until the final determination of such commissioner,
and, in general, for performing such other duties as may be
required by such claimant, his or her attorney or agent, or commissioner
in the premises, such fees to be made up in conformity with the fees
usually charged by the officers of the courts of justice within the proper
district or county, as near as may be practicable, and paid by such claimants,
their agents or attorneys, whether such supposed fugitives from
service or labor be ordered to be delivered to such claimants by the final
determination of such commissioners or not. - And be it further enacted, That, upon affidavit made by the
claimant of such fugitive, his agent or attorney, after such certificate
has been issued, that he has reason to apprehend that such fugitive will
be rescued by force from his or their possession before he can be taken
beyond the limits of the State in which the arrest is made, it shall be
the duty of the officer making the arrest to retain such fugitive in his
custody, and to remove him to the State whence he fled, and there to
deliver him to said claimant, his agent, or attorney. And to this end,
the officer aforesaid is hereby authorized and required to employ so
many persons as he may deem necessary to overcome such force, and to
retain them in his service so long as circumstances may require. The
said officer and his assistants, while so employed, to receive the same
compensation, and to be allowed the same expenses, as are now allowed
by law for transportation of criminals, to be certified by the judge of the
district within which the arrest is made, and paid out of the treasury of
the United States. - And be it further enacted, That when any person held to
service or labor in any State or Territory, or in the District of Columbia,
shall escape therefrom, the party to whom such service or labor shall
be due, his, her, or their agent or attorney, may apply to any court of
record therein, or judge thereof in vacation, and make satisfactory proof
to such court, or judge in vacation, of the escape aforesaid, and that the
366person escaping owed service or labor to such party. Whereupon the
court shall cause a record to be made of the matters so proved, and also
a general description of the person so escaping, with such convenient
certainty as may be; and a transcript of such record, authenticated by
the attestation of the clerk and of the seal of the said court, being produced
in any other State, Territory, or district in which the person so
escaping may be found, and being exhibited to any judge, commissioner,
or other officer authorized by the law of the United States to cause persons
escaping from service or labor to be delivered up, shall be held and
taken to be full and conclusive evidence of the fact of escape, and that
the service or labor of the person escaping is due to the party in such
record mentioned. And upon the production by the said party of other
and further evidence if necessary, either oral or by affidavit, in addition
to what is contained in the said record of the identity of the person
escaping, he or she shall be delivered up to the claimant. And the said
court, commissioner, judge, or other person authorized by this act to
grant certificates to claimants of fugitives, shall, upon the production of
the record and other evidences aforesaid, grant to such claimant a certificate
of his right to take any such person identified and proved to be
owing service or labor as aforesaid, which certificate shall authorize such
claimant to seize or arrest and transport such person to the State or Territory
from which he escaped: Provided, That nothing herein contained
shall be construed as requiring the production of a transcript of such
record as evidence as aforesaid. But in its absence the claim shall be
heard and determined upon other satisfactory proofs, competent in law.
"Sec. 2.
"Sec. 3.
"Sec. 4.
"Sec. 5.
"Sec. 6.
"Sec. 7.
"Sec. 8.
"Sec. 9.
"Sec. 10.
"Approved, September 18, 1850."—Statutes at Large, IX, 462–465.
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