1. 15-2a A Nation Dividing

2. Fugitive Slave Act
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a part of the Compromise of 1850, required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves, .
Slaveholders then stepped up efforts to capture runaway slaves.

3. Fugitive Slave Act
People in the South thought the law would force people in the North to recognize Southerners rights.
Instead, it angered Northerners convincing them even more Northerners to end slavery.

4. Fugitive Slave Act
Slaveholders even tried to capture runaways who had lived in freedom in the North for several years.
Sometimes they seized African Americans who were not escaped slaves and force them back into slavery.

5. Anthony Burns
24 May 1854, Federal Officers seized Anthony Burns who lived in Boston in order to send him back into slavery.
People in Boston erupted in outrage.

6. Anthony Burns
Abolitionists tried to rescue Burns from the Federal Courthouse, but those efforts failed.
Local militia units joined the Marines and Cavalry in Boston trying to keep order. P.7

7. Anthony Burns
Federal troops escorted Burns to a ship that would take him back to Virginia and slavery.
In a gesture of bitter protest Bostonians draped buildings with black fabric, and hung the American flag upside down.

8. Resistance to Fugitive Slave Act
Many Northerners refused to cooperate with the enforcement of the law.
The underground railroad helped slaves make their way to freedom. P.4

9. Resistance to Fugitive Slave Act
Antislavery groups tried to rescue African Americans who were being pursued or free those who were captured.
People contributed funds to buy the freedom of African Americans.

10. Resistance to Fugitive Slave Act
Franklin Pierce who became President in 1853 supported the FSA.
His enforcement of the FSA hardened the opposition.

11. Not in the History Books
There was also a Fugitive Slave Act signed into law in 1793 signed by George Washington.
It also included white indentured servants.

12. Not in the History Books
The 1793 law was loosely enforced, to the great irritation of the South, and as abolitionist sentiment developed, organized efforts to circumvent the law took form in the Underground Railroad.

13. Not in the History Books
In Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842), the United States Supreme Court determined that 'personal liberty laws' were unconstitutional: They interfered with the Fugitive Slave Act. The Court held that while states were not compelled to enforce the 1793 federal law, they could not override it with other enactments.

14. Not in the History Books
The Fugitive Slave Act was favored strongly by, and signed by US President Millard Filmore a native of Buffalo.

15. Not in the History Books
Opposed in many Northern states, several states reacted by enacting legislation to protect free black Americans and fugitive slaves.

16. Not in the History Books
The 'personal liberty laws' compelled a slave catcher to furnish corroborative proof that his captive was a fugitive and frequently accorded the accused the rights to trial by jury and appeal A

17. References http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/fugitive.htm

18. Kansas- Nebraska Act
In 1854 disputes over slavery erupted again in Congress.
Stephen Douglas wanted to encourage settlement of the west and make way for the Transcontinental railroad.

19. Kansas- Nebraska Act
Douglas proposed organizing the territory west of Missouri and Iowa as the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
Douglas wanted to develop a plan for expansion that would be acceptable to both the North and the South.

20. Kansas- Nebraska Act
Instead it opened the conflict over slavery in the territories.
Because of their location Kansas and Nebraska seemed likely to be free states.

21. Kansas- Nebraska Act
Both territories lie north of the 36˚ 30’N latitude line of the Missouri Compromise.
Douglas knew the South would object to these territories because it would give the free states an advantage in the Senate.

22. Kansas- Nebraska Act
Douglas proposed abandoning the Missouri Compromise and letting the settlers in each territory determine themselves whether to allow slavery.
This is called popular sovereignty- allowing the people to decide.

23. Passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Act
Northerners protested strongly allowing slavery into areas that had been free for more than 30 years.
Opponents of the bill demanded it be voted down.
Abolitionist Wendell Phillips speaking against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 at an antislavery meeting in Boston.

24. Passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Act
Southerners provided solid support for the bill.
Southerners thought Kansas would be settled by slaveholders from Missouri.
Southerners thought those settlers would vote to keep slavery legal.

25. Passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Act
With some support from Northern Democrats and the backing of President Franklin Pierce, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in May of 1854.