The Fugitive Slave Law and Its Victims: Anti-Slavery Tracts No. 18May, Samuel
History
The Fugitive Slave Law and Its Victims: Anti-Slavery Tracts No. 18
May, Samuel
Fugitive slaves -- United States; United States -- Fugitive slave law (1850)
_Two fugitives_, passing through Ohio, (January, 1856,) were
closely pursued and nearly overtaken at Columbus, Ohio. "Ten
minutes previous warning only saved the fugitives from their
pursuers." Deputy Marshal J. Underwood, being called on to
act in the case, refused, and resigned his office, saying, he
did not expect to be "called upon to help execute the odious
Fugitive Slave Law."--_Cincinnati Commercial_.
[--> The following may, not improperly, find a place here.]
The House of Delegates of Virginia, early in 1856, adopted
the following:--"_Be it resolved by the General Assembly_,
That our Representatives in Congress are requested, and our
Senators be and are hereby instructed, to secure the passage
of a law making full compensation to all owners whose slaves
have or may hereafter escape into any of the non-slaveholding
States of this Union, and there be withheld from those to
whom such service or labor may be due."
_Fourteen persons of color_, held at Los Angelos, California,
early in 1856, as the servants of one Robert Smith, were
brought before Judge Benjamin Hays, on a writ of _habeas
corpus_. Smith alleged that he formerly resided in
Mississippi, where he owned these persons; was now about to
remove to Texas, and designed to take these persons with him
as his slaves. Judge Hays decided that they were all free,
and those under twenty-one years of age were placed in the
charge of the sheriff, as their special guardian.--_Los
Angelos Star._ The opinion of Judge Hays (who was said to be
a native of South Carolina,) is a very able one, and under
the circumstances, of much interest. It may be found in the
_Standard_, of April 5, 1856.
_Two colored lads_, named RALLS and LOGAN, living in
Cincinnati, were kidnapped thence by two men, named Orr and
Simpkins, and taken to St. Louis, Missouri, where the men
tried to sell them. The men were arrested as kidnappers.
(March, 1856.)
_The Decatur (Illinois) Chronicle_ states that "a man charged
with being a fugitive slave was recently arrested at that
place and carried off, no one knows where. The sheriff of the
county was the willing instrument in the hands of the
claimants; no attempt to appeal to the law was made, the
negro being carried off as if he were a stray horse or dog."
The _Chicago Tribune_ says: "If this is a true statement of
the affair, that sheriff has laid himself liable to the
charge of kidnapping, and should at once be proceeded against
with such rigor as his offence demands." (April, 1856.)
MARGARET GARNER _and seven others_, at Cincinnati, Ohio, January,
1856. Of this recent and peculiarly painful case we give a somewhat
detailed account, mainly taken from the Cincinnati papers of the
day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account