No Sanctuary. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
September 18th is the anniversary of the passing by the U.S. Congress of The Fugitive Slave Act. When we look at the actions of our government today — and elected officials who embrace white supremacy and xenophobia, we need to understand the racism that was built into the Constitution and the laws of the land in the past.
The Fugitive Slave Act passed in 1850 was a concession to the southern states in return for the admission of the Mexican war territories (California, especially) into the Union as nonslave states.The Act made it easy for slaveowners to recapture ex-slaves or simply to pick up blacks they claimed had run away. Northern blacks organized resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act, denouncing President Fillmore, who signed it, and Senator Daniel Webster, who supported it. One of these was J. W. Loguen, son of a slave mother and her white owner. He had escaped to freedom on his master's horse, gone to college, and was now a minister in Syracuse, New York. He spoke to a meeting in that city in 1850:
The time has come to change the tones of submission into tones of defiance-and to tell Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Webster, if they propose to execute this measure upon us, to send on their blood-hounds. ...I received my freedom from Heaven, and with it came the command to defend my title to it. ... I don't respect this law-I don't fear it-I won't obey it! It outlaws me, and I outlaw it.... I will not live a slave, and if force is employed to re-enslave me, I shall make preparations to meet the crisis as becomes a man. ... Your decision tonight in favor of resistance will give vent to the spirit of liberty,and it will break the bands of party, and shout for joy all over the North. ... Heaven knows that this act of noble daring will break out somewhere-and may God grant that Syracuse be the honored spot, whence it shall send an earthquake voice through the land!
The following year, Syracuse had its chance. A runaway slave named Jerry was captured and put on trial. A crowd used crowbars and a battering ram to break into the courthouse, defying marshals with drawn guns, and set Jerry free.
Loguen made his home in Syracuse a major station on the Underground Railroad. It was said that he helped 1,500 slaves on their way to Canada. His memoir of slavery came to the attention of his former mistress, and she wrote to him, asking him either to return or to send her $1,000 in compensation. Loguen's reply to her was printed in the abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator:
Mrs. Sarah Logue. .. . You say you have offers to buy me, and that you shall sell me if I do not send you $1000, and in the same breath and almost in the same sentence, you say, "You know we raised you as we did our own children." Woman, did you raise your own children for the market? Did you raise them for the whipping post? Did you raise them to be driven off, bound to a coffle in chains? ... Shame on you!
But you say I am a thief, because I took the old mare along with me. Have you got to learn that I had a better right to the old mare, as you call her, than Manasseth Logue had to me? Is it a greater sin for me to steal his horse, than it was for him to rob my mother's cradle, and steal me? . .. Have you got to learn that human rights are mutual and reciprocal, and if you take my liberty and life, you forfeit your own liberty and life? Before God and high heaven, is there a law for one man which is not a law for every other man?
If you or any other speculator on my body and rights, wish to know how I regard my rights, they need but come here, and lay their hands on me to enslave me.. . .
Yours, etc. J. W. Loguen
You can read Loguen’s full narrative online:
J. W. Loguen (Jermain Wesley), 1814-1872
The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers.
This was one of the most controversial elements of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a “slave power conspiracy”. It required that all escaped slaves were, upon capture, to be returned to their masters and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate in this law. Abolitionists nicknamed it the “Bloodhound Law” for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.
In Frederick Douglass’ newspaper, The North Star, the editors referred to use of the law as “Manstealing” in reference to the Bible verse, Exodus 21:16 that reads: And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
American Experience Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made the hunting down of escaped slaves, even in free states, fully legal. To abolitionists, this represented a huge blow to their efforts. Not only had the federal government endorsed slavery, but it had also committed to preserving the institution indefinitely.
“The South did not believe in ‘state’s rights’ – the South believed in slavery.” Historian Eric Foner
The Freedom on the Move Project at Cornell University is constructing a database of escaped slave advertisements.
Throughout the 250-year history of slavery in North America, enslaved people tried to escape. Once newspapers were common, enslavers posted “runaway ads” to try to locate these fugitives. Such ads provide significant quantities of individual and collective information about the economic, demographic, social, and cultural history of slavery, but they have never been systematically collected. We are designing and beginning data collection for a database that will compile all North American slave runaway ads and make them available for statistical, geographical, textual, and other forms of analysis. Some elements of data collection will be crowdsourced, engendering a public sense of co-participation in the process of recording history, and producing a living pedagogical tool for instructors at all levels, in multiple disciplines.
You can follow them on twitter.
For those of you interested in learning more I strongly suggest you read, The Captive's Quest for Freedom: Fugitive Slaves, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, and the Politics of Slavery, by historian Richard Blackett, which was released in January, 2018.
This magisterial study, ten years in the making by one of the field's most distinguished historians, will be the first to explore the impact fugitive slaves had on the politics of the critical decade leading up to the Civil War. Through the close reading of diverse sources ranging from government documents to personal accounts, Richard J. M. Blackett traces the decisions of slaves to escape, the actions of those who assisted them, the many ways black communities responded to the capture of fugitive slaves, and how local laws either buttressed or undermined enforcement of the federal law. Every effort to enforce the law in northern communities produced levels of subversion that generated national debate so much so that, on the eve of secession, many in the South, looking back on the decade, could argue that the law had been effectively subverted by those individuals and states who assisted fleeing slaves
In case you are not familiar with Dr. Richard Blackett, he is
a historian of the abolitionist movement in the US and particularly its transatlantic connections and the roles African Americans played in the movement to abolish slavery. He is the author of Building an Antislavery Wall: Black Americans in the Atlantic Abolitionist Movement, 1830-1860 (Louisiana State University Press, 1983); Beating Against the Barriers. Biographical Essays in Nineteenth-Century Afro-American History (Louisiana State University Press, 1986); Thomas Morris Chester: Black Civil War Correspondent (Louisiana State University Press, Da Capo Press, 1989); Divided Hearts. Britain and the American Civil War (Louisiana State University Press, 2001); Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery (University of North Carolina Press, 2013); editor, Running A Thousand Miles for Freedom: The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (Louisiana State University Press, 1999)
Blackett discusses his book and research in this fascinating discussion. Take some time out to listen.
GLC Book Talk: Professor Richard Blackett (Andrew Jackson Professor of History, Vanderbilt University) discusses his new book, The Captive’s Quest for Freedom: Fugitive Slaves, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, and the Politics of Slavery (Cambridge Press, 2018) with GLC Director David W. Blight
(FYI — I’ve discussed David Blight’s work here in the past)
What also interests me about this history — are the connections we can make between this ugly past and our current racist present. The hunting of undocumented immigrants, the debate over sanctuary cities — all echo a white supremacy written into law.
These connections were just discussed in this forum, which I watched live-streamed yesterday:
Constitution Day Panel on Fugitive Slave Law’s Legacy
The controversial 1850 Fugitive Slave Law provoked a bitter national debate over open borders, due process, family separation, federal power and northern states’ rights. Our panelists will discuss those earlier controversies and assess how they might offer important insights or perspective for the current and increasingly intense debates over Trump Administration immigration policies.
Teachers and students who want to prepare for this discussion might want to begin by consulting Giesberg’s recent op-ed for the
Washington Post entitled,
“Jeff Sessions is Wrong. Sanctuary-city advocates aren’t like secessionists. They’re like abolitionists.” Another good starting point for understanding this historic parallel comes from law professor Jeffrey Schmitt who has written law review articles on this subject. But Schmitt also has
a helpful blog post that describes why Blackett’s new book on the fugitive crisis (
Captive’s Quest) is such an important addition to our understanding of how the resistance to the fugitive law evolved. Drawing historical lessons for the “resistance” was also a topic that noted historian Eric Foner explored in
a recent op-ed for
The Nation. Delbanco’s new and much-anticipated book on the fugitive slave law is not quite available for sale yet (
War Before the War, November 2018), but audience members can preview some of his views on President Trump’s historical legacy in
this roundtable from the
New York Review of Books which came out at the very end of the 2016 election. Finally, for those seeking more in-depth treatments of these subjects and the historic parallels and connections between the fugitive slave crisis of the 1850s and the immigration crisis of our era, see freely available scholarly articles by
Kraehenbuehl (2011),
McKanders (2012), and
Schmitt (2013), or shorter but context-filled recent magazine pieces in
Time or
Slate.
My thoughts after watching — the past cannot be disconnected from our present. The future is ours to change.
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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The black-hating, neo-Confederate Republican called “Roy Moore Lite” seeking to become the next Senator from the State of Mississippi visited MSNBC on Friday and in just under 2 minutes, managed to defend the Confederate flag, explain how rap music turns black people into murderers and told African Americans why they should be tired of begging from white people.
Imagine if David Duke had a nice head of hair, a genteel southern accent, the heart of an ethnic cleanser and a mouth that could dog whistle at a pitch only discernible to Caucasian ears.
Everyone knows Chris McDaniel is racist. He’s so racist, he doesn’t even deny it himself and will only counter charges of racism by bringing up Ronald Reagan to remind voters of the fact that they ”called him a racist,” too.
McDaniel is in a hotly-contested race for the Mississippi Senate seat left vacant by Sen Thad Cochran’s (R-Miss.) retirement. What is interesting about the race is that polls show the Democrat, Mike Espy, is tied with two Republican contenders who all face each other in a November 6th special election. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two contenders would face each other in a runoff, opening up the almost unthinkable possibility that Mississippi could send a black Democrat to the Senate.
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At the annual meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus Friday, black female candidates who prevailed in primaries over established incumbents said it’s time for a conversation about how the party is structured. They expressed frustration that the party is tilted against rising politicians — especially those of color — and argued that if Democrats flip the House in November, it would be the result of organization and turnout amount black voters, particularly women.
If that happens, the candidates said, gratitude won’t be enough. They want a seat at the leadership table and a role in re-examining how the party works.
“It is not enough to just talk about a blue wave and Democrats being in the majority,” said Ayanna Pressley, the Boston city councilwoman now poised to become Massachusetts’ first black congresswoman. “What matters is who are those Democrats? We have to have a conversation about the guts and the soul of this party.”
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Designers, curators, models, celebrities and fashion lovers descended on New York City between September 5 and 12 for the latest iteration of New York Fashion Week (NYFW). As the industry takes steps toward more equitable representation, this year’s shows featured several established and emerging designers of color and several high-profile showcases featuring diverse models. Channel that energy into your wardrobe via inspiration from these showcases, which highlighted designers and models of color:
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One of the World's Largest and Most Diverse Film Festivals Launches Its 22nd Year. The Root: Urbanworld Returns!
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Films helmed by and starring talent of color still remain, unfortunately, far and few between, but now in its 22nd year, the Urbanworld Film Festivalcontinues to champion the work of predominantly black talents and filmmakers across the country and diaspora. As stated on its website:
[Urbanworld] is one of the largest internationally competitive festivals of its kind. Each year, we curate a slate of films representing the broadest lens of diversity across stories, characters, themes, and cultures. We fight tirelessly to expand the definition of “urban” beyond ethnicity to include sensibility, culture, and proximity.
Featuring 77 films this year—including the highly anticipated Widows, Night School, Smallfoot and The Hate U Give, Urbanworld, in conjunction with founding partner HBO, continues to bring diverse stories to an equally diverse audience over a five-day festival, taking place this year in New York City between Sept. 19-23.
Speaking on the genesis of Urbanworld, founder Stacy Spikes, former vice president of marketing at Miramax, told Black Enterprise in 2010:
[P]eople were sending me films that weren’t in other festivals, and I thought these films needed to be seen. They weren’t showing anyplace else, and I thought we should have our own festival. ... We create an opportunity for exposure. We hold up the best of black films and that showcase gives them an opportunity to go on elsewhere to do great things. That is our purpose.
But Spikes was also realistic about distribution, which remains difficult for most films, but even more so for black films. He credited TV and cable outlets with greater exposure of diverse stories, but also warned that we shouldn’t be reliant on traditional routes for funding and promotion, because our communities have always been our greatest support systems:
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AMINU TAMBUWAL, a state governor normally too bland to attract much attention, is running for president of Nigeria. Like a dozen other serving and former governors, a senate president and a former vice-president, Mr Tambuwal said he was bowing to the demands of the people, who apparently wanted him to defect to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and challenge the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari, in an election that is scheduled for February. Many Nigerians felt a sense of déjà vu. Four years ago, Mr Tambuwal was one of a number of bigwigs who deserted the PDP and helped propel Mr Buhari (pictured above) to victory.
Government may be a shambles in Nigeria, but politics is thriving. In the election in 2015 one government agency is alleged to have diverted more than a $1bn intended for the fight against jihadist groups in the north-east to fund the electoral campaigns of ruling-party politicians. Private donors supporting Goodluck Jonathan, the previous president, paid the disgraced (and now defunct) British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to produce extraordinarily inflammatory social-media campaigns showing people being hacked to death or burned alive and claiming that Mr Buhari would impose sharia, or Islamic law, if he were elected.
Many of the international political consulting and public-relations firms that coined it in 2015 are again seen trailing their candidates through the lobbies of hotels in Abuja and London. The flacks are as fickle as the Big Men they serve. Some lobbyists are now working for the very people they sought to trash last time.
They will have their work cut out, no matter which politicians are writing their paycheques. Start with Mr Buhari, who faces a surprisingly tough contest for reelection given the widespread euphoria that greeted the start of his first term. He came to power after promising to end a jihadist insurgency, diversify the economy from oil and reduce corruption.
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For months, Taranique Thurston has been caught in limbo in the Bahamas while a cyst grows in her brain.
She needs medical treatment in Miami that could save her life. But the 16-year-old can’t travel to the United States because of a provision in the Bahamian citizenship law that has left her without a country.
Her father is a Bahamian citizen. Her mother, of Haitian descent, was born in the Bahamas and became a citizen four years ago. When Taranique was born — in the Bahamas — her parents weren’t married. And that means, under a Bahamian law that traces citizenship through the father of a married couple, she’s not considered a citizen and not entitled to a passport.
Taranique is stateless. She’s also increasingly ill.
“My daughter was diagnosed last year and we’re still trapped here and can’t move,” said Taranique’s mother, Ginette Caty. “My daughter is really, really distressed about the situation that’s going on.”
Taranique’s case is the latest example of the impact of a Bahamian nationality law that doesn’t automatically grant citizenship to individuals born in the country after 1973, when the country gained independence from the United Kingdom. While the law affects all foreigners in the country, it has overwhelmingly affected the children of Haitian immigrants like Taranique.
After the Bahamas’ Tribune newspaper began writing stories about Taranique’s inability to get to the U.S. for medical treatment because of her irregular immigration status, her case caught the attention of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
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