Fugitive Slave Clause Written Into the U.S. Constitution

Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution required that any person 'held to Service or Labour' who escaped to another state must be 'delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.' It applied across all states, including free states, and obligated Northern states to participate in the return of freedom-seeking people. The clause was inserted at the insistence of Southern delegates and passed without recorded dissent. It nationalized the institution of slavery by making the entire country complicit in its enforcement.