EOTO 1: The Fugitive Slave Act

 On September 18th, 1850, Congress passed The Fugitive Slave Law Act which was enacted as a supplement of The Missouri Compromise. The act enforced that all slaves must be returned to their owners, regardless if they were in a free state or not. This made is so that both the government and the public were responsible for finding and returning escaped slaves. It is important to note that fugitive slaves were denied their rights to a jury trial. 

The Missouri Compromise, which split the states into free and slave states, was the reason for The Fugitive Slave Act. The Missouri Compromise was "fair" to both the pro and anti-slavery sides, but it had faults that angered the people of the slave states. At this time, slavery was seen as a key factor in the inclining economy. Without the slaves, the farming industries and plantations would fail, causing an economic recession. 

Before The Fugitive Slave Law Act of 1850, any slaves that were able to escape their owners would flee to free states and live in freedom. The Missouri Compromise allowed this which is why after a couple of decades, The Fugitive Slave Law was enacted. This made it much harder for slaves in the slave states to achieve freedom. Once the law was passed, most slaves that escaped their custody and made it to the free states were returned back to their owners and punished. "Slave catching" and kidnapping became encouraged and bounties were placed on runaway slaves to get public assistance in the process of returning fugitive slaves. It almost became a sport to hunt down fugitive slaves, which stripped them even more of their humanity. The federal government also induced policies that would make being a fugitive slave or being a fugitive slave helper extremely regrettable. A penalty of $1,000 was given to those who did not report and turn in said slaves in addition to six months of jail time. This is equivalent to $35,180 as of the year of 2022. The fugitive slaves would also have to face the consequences of their actions by their owners. However, the slave owners were much more physical with their punishments. The punishment took many forms: whippings, torture, mutilation, and being sold to other owners. 

Although The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 hindered the abolition movement, there were some people that tried to combat the law. One example of this, is The Boston Anti-Man-Hunting League, which worked diligently to capture the slaveholders. The most prominent activists of this group were: Austin Bearse, Samuel Gridley Howe, Lewis Hayden, and Joshua B. Smith. The idea of this group was to abduct the slave owners before their slaves could be returned back to them. One of the founders, Henry Bowditch, wrote detailed letters of the organization and it's methods to countering the Fugitive Slave Act. The league would use coded letters to warn each other of the tactics and numbers of the slave catchers. These messages were indecipherable by anyone that was not initiated into the league. Members of the league would also arm themselves in order to practice self-defense and preserve the strength of their force.