Fugitive Slave Act 1850: Federal Law Forces Northern Complicity in Slavery

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 created federal commissioners who received $10 if they ruled a captured person must be returned to slavery, $5 if freed, an explicit financial incentive for rendition. It required all citizens to assist in capturing freedom-seekers under penalty of $1,000 fine and 6 months imprisonment. Accused persons had no right to testify on their own behalf, no right to jury trial. Approximately 350 people were returned to slavery under the act; thousands of free Black Northerners fled to Canada in fear.