The thanks of the author are due first to Professor Hart, under whose direction and with whose assistance and encouragement the monograph has been prepared; then to Miss Anna B. Thompson, without whose careful training in the Thayer Academy and continued sympathy, the work could not have been undertaken. Many thanks are due also to the authorities of the Library of Harvard College for the use, in the alcoves, of their large and conveniently arranged collection of books and pamphlets on United States History, and to the assistants in the Boston Public and Massachusetts State Libraries for courteous aid. Colonel T. W. Higginson has kindly examined the chapter on the cases from 1850 to 1860, suggesting some interesting details; and Mr. Arthur Gilman has read the whole in proof, and made many valuable suggestions. MARION GLEASON McDOUGALL. ROCKLAND, MASS. April 2, 1891. CONTENTS. Page CHAPTER I. _LEGISLATION AND CASES BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION._ § 1. Elements of colonial slavery 1 § 2. Regulations as to fugitives (1640-1700) 2 § 3. Treatment of fugitives 3 § 4. Regulations in New England colonies 4 § 5. Escapes in New England: Attucks case 5 § 6. Dutch regulations in New Netherlands 6 § 7. Escapes from New Amsterdam 6 § 8. Intercolonial regulations 7 § 9. Intercolonial cases 8 § 10. International relations 9 § 11. International cases 10 § 12. Relations with the mother country 11 § 13. Regulation under the Articles of Confederation (1781-1788) 12 § 14. Ordinance for the Northwest Territory (1787) 13 § 15. The Fugitive question in the Constitutional Conventions 14 CHAPTER II. _LEGISLATION FROM 1789 TO 1850._ § 16. Effect of the fugitive slave clause in the Constitution 16 § 17. The first Fugitive Slave Act (1793) 16 § 18. Discussion of the first act 18 § 19. Propositions of 1797 and 1802 19 § 20. Propositions from 1817 to 1822 21 § 21. Period of the Missouri Compromise (1819-1822) 23 § 22. Status of the question from 1823 to 1847 24 § 23. Canada and Mexico places of refuge 25 § 24. Status of fugitives on the high seas 26