Fugitive Slave Law of
1793
1793
Chapter VII - An Act respecting Fugitives from Justice,
and persons escaping from the service of their masters.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the
executive authority of any state in the Union, or of either of the territories
northwest or south of the river Ohio, shall demand any person as a fugitive
from justice, of the executive authority of any such state or territory to
which such person shall have fled, and shall moreover produce the copy of
an indictment found, or an affidavit made before a magistrate of any state
or territory as aforesaid, charging the person so demanded, with having
committed treason, felony or other crime, certified as authentic by the
governor or chief magistrate of the duty of the executive authority of the
state or territory to which such person shall have fled, to cause him or her
to be arrested and secured, and notice of the arrest to be given to the
executive authority of the state or territory making such demand, or to the
agent of such authority appointed to receive the fugitive, and to cause the
fugitive to be delivered to such agent when he shall appear. But if no such
agent shall appear with six months from the time of the arrest, the prisoner
may be discharged. And all costs or expenses incurred in the apprehending,
securing, and transmitting such fugitive to the state or territory making
such demand, shall be paid by such state or territory.
Section 2. And be it further enacted, That any agent, appointed as aforesaid,
who shall receive the fugitive into his custody, shall be empowered to
transport him or her to the state or territory from which he or she shall
have fled. And if any person or persons shall by force set at liberty, or
rescue the fugitive from such agent while transporting, as aforesaid, the
person or persons so offending shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding
five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding one year.
Section 3. And be it also enacted, That when a person held to labour in any
of the United States, or in either of the territories on the northwest or south
of the river Ohio, under the laws thereof, shall escape into any other of the
said states or territory, the person to whom such labour or service may be
due, his agent or attorney, is hereby empowered to seize or arrest such
fugitive from labour, (b) and to take him or her before any judge of the
circuit or district courts of the United States, residing or being within the
state, or before any magistrate of a county, city or town corporate, wherein
such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof to the satisfaction of
such judge or magistrate, either by oral testimony or affidavit taken before
and certified by a magistrate of any such state or territory, that the person
so seized or arrested, doth, under the laws of the state or territory from
which he or she fled, owe service or labour to the person claiming him or
her, it shall be the duty of such judge or magistrate to give a certificate
thereof to such claimant, his agent or attorney, which shall be sufficient
warrant for removing the said fugitive from labour, to the state or territory
from which he or she fled.
Section 4. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly
and willing obstruct or hinder such claimant, his agent or attorney in so
seizing or arresting such fugitive from labour, or shall rescue such fugitive
from such claimant, his agent or attorney when so arrested pursuant to the
authority herein given or declared; or shall harbor or conceal such person
after notice that he or she was a fugitive from labour, as aforesaid, shall, for
either of the said offenses, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars.
Which penalty may be recovered by and for the benefit of such claimant, by
action of debt, in any court proper to try the same; saving moreover to the
person claiming such labour or service, his right of action for or on account
of the said injuries or either of them.
Approved, February 12, 1793. Signed into law by President George
Washington
and persons escaping from the service of their masters.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the
executive authority of any state in the Union, or of either of the territories
northwest or south of the river Ohio, shall demand any person as a fugitive
from justice, of the executive authority of any such state or territory to
which such person shall have fled, and shall moreover produce the copy of
an indictment found, or an affidavit made before a magistrate of any state
or territory as aforesaid, charging the person so demanded, with having
committed treason, felony or other crime, certified as authentic by the
governor or chief magistrate of the duty of the executive authority of the
state or territory to which such person shall have fled, to cause him or her
to be arrested and secured, and notice of the arrest to be given to the
executive authority of the state or territory making such demand, or to the
agent of such authority appointed to receive the fugitive, and to cause the
fugitive to be delivered to such agent when he shall appear. But if no such
agent shall appear with six months from the time of the arrest, the prisoner
may be discharged. And all costs or expenses incurred in the apprehending,
securing, and transmitting such fugitive to the state or territory making
such demand, shall be paid by such state or territory.
Section 2. And be it further enacted, That any agent, appointed as aforesaid,
who shall receive the fugitive into his custody, shall be empowered to
transport him or her to the state or territory from which he or she shall
have fled. And if any person or persons shall by force set at liberty, or
rescue the fugitive from such agent while transporting, as aforesaid, the
person or persons so offending shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding
five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding one year.
Section 3. And be it also enacted, That when a person held to labour in any
of the United States, or in either of the territories on the northwest or south
of the river Ohio, under the laws thereof, shall escape into any other of the
said states or territory, the person to whom such labour or service may be
due, his agent or attorney, is hereby empowered to seize or arrest such
fugitive from labour, (b) and to take him or her before any judge of the
circuit or district courts of the United States, residing or being within the
state, or before any magistrate of a county, city or town corporate, wherein
such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof to the satisfaction of
such judge or magistrate, either by oral testimony or affidavit taken before
and certified by a magistrate of any such state or territory, that the person
so seized or arrested, doth, under the laws of the state or territory from
which he or she fled, owe service or labour to the person claiming him or
her, it shall be the duty of such judge or magistrate to give a certificate
thereof to such claimant, his agent or attorney, which shall be sufficient
warrant for removing the said fugitive from labour, to the state or territory
from which he or she fled.
Section 4. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly
and willing obstruct or hinder such claimant, his agent or attorney in so
seizing or arresting such fugitive from labour, or shall rescue such fugitive
from such claimant, his agent or attorney when so arrested pursuant to the
authority herein given or declared; or shall harbor or conceal such person
after notice that he or she was a fugitive from labour, as aforesaid, shall, for
either of the said offenses, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars.
Which penalty may be recovered by and for the benefit of such claimant, by
action of debt, in any court proper to try the same; saving moreover to the
person claiming such labour or service, his right of action for or on account
of the said injuries or either of them.
Approved, February 12, 1793. Signed into law by President George
Washington
If a slaveowner brings a slave to Pennsylvania after six months the slave is
freed according to Pennsylvania law, March 1, 1780.
House of Representatives Vote on Fugitive Slave Act:
It was resolved in the affirmative,
Yeas ... 48,
Nays ... 7.
The yeas and nays being demanded by one-fifth of the members present,
Those who voted in the affirmative, are,
Fisher Ames,
John Baptist Ashe,
Abraham Baldwin,
Robert Barnwell,
Egbert Benson,
Elias Boudinot,
Shearjashub Bourne,
Benjamin Bourne,
Abraham Clark,
Jonathan Dayton,
William Findley,
Thomas Fitzsimons,
Elbridge Gerry,
Nicholas Gilman,
Benjamin Goodhue,
James Gordon,
Christopher Greenup,
Andrew Gregg,
Samuel Griffin,
William Barry Grove,
Thomas Hartley,
James Hillhouse,
William Hindman,
Daniel Huger,
Israel Jacobs,
Philip Key,
Aaron Kitchell,
Amasa Learned,
Richard Bland Lee,
George Leonard,
Nathaniel Macon,
Andrew Moore,
Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg,
William Vans Murray,
Alexander D. Orr,
John Page,
Cornelius C. Schoonmaker,
Theodore Sedgwick,
Peter Silvester,
Israel Smith,
William Smith,
John Steele,
Thomas Sumpter,
Thomas Tudor Tucker,
Jeremiah Wadsworth,
Alexander White,
Hugh Williamson, and
Francis Willis.
Those who voted in the negative, are,
Samuel Livermore (N.H),
John Francis Mercer (Md),
Nathaniel Niles (Vt),
Josiah Parker (Va),
Jonathan Sturges (Ct),
George Thatcher (Mass and Ma), and
Thomas Tredwell (NY).
Senators George Cabot (Ma), Ralph Izard (S.C), and Roger Sherman (Ct)
were the commitee assigned to the bill, but no recorded vote was taken.
freed according to Pennsylvania law, March 1, 1780.
House of Representatives Vote on Fugitive Slave Act:
It was resolved in the affirmative,
Yeas ... 48,
Nays ... 7.
The yeas and nays being demanded by one-fifth of the members present,
Those who voted in the affirmative, are,
Fisher Ames,
John Baptist Ashe,
Abraham Baldwin,
Robert Barnwell,
Egbert Benson,
Elias Boudinot,
Shearjashub Bourne,
Benjamin Bourne,
Abraham Clark,
Jonathan Dayton,
William Findley,
Thomas Fitzsimons,
Elbridge Gerry,
Nicholas Gilman,
Benjamin Goodhue,
James Gordon,
Christopher Greenup,
Andrew Gregg,
Samuel Griffin,
William Barry Grove,
Thomas Hartley,
James Hillhouse,
William Hindman,
Daniel Huger,
Israel Jacobs,
Philip Key,
Aaron Kitchell,
Amasa Learned,
Richard Bland Lee,
George Leonard,
Nathaniel Macon,
Andrew Moore,
Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg,
William Vans Murray,
Alexander D. Orr,
John Page,
Cornelius C. Schoonmaker,
Theodore Sedgwick,
Peter Silvester,
Israel Smith,
William Smith,
John Steele,
Thomas Sumpter,
Thomas Tudor Tucker,
Jeremiah Wadsworth,
Alexander White,
Hugh Williamson, and
Francis Willis.
Those who voted in the negative, are,
Samuel Livermore (N.H),
John Francis Mercer (Md),
Nathaniel Niles (Vt),
Josiah Parker (Va),
Jonathan Sturges (Ct),
George Thatcher (Mass and Ma), and
Thomas Tredwell (NY).
Senators George Cabot (Ma), Ralph Izard (S.C), and Roger Sherman (Ct)
were the commitee assigned to the bill, but no recorded vote was taken.
| John Francis Mercer Md State Archives |
| Ranaway from Subscriber, living in Prince George's County, Maryland on Thursday the 6th day of October, Negro Man LEWIS commonly called Lewis Butler. Lewis is about 6 ft high, very dark mulatto, spare made, very long limbs, with very long feet and hands; clothing course Osnaburg shirt and trousers other clothes not recollected. I will give Fifty dollars if taken in the state or the District of Columbia; if out of state, the above reward, reasonable charges, if brought home or confined to jail so that I may get him again. Thomas Snowden Jr. October 19, 1825. |