Primary Sources

Primary Source: The Constitution of the United States

Article IV, Section 2

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

[No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.]*

*This clause, which relates to the rendition of fugitive slaves, was changed by the Thirteenth Amendment.

The Constitution of the United States with Index and The Declaration of Independence. 1986. Washington, D.C.: Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, 1991.

It should be noted that sections 1,3, and 4 of Article IV all give specific enforcement powers of the federal government, while section 2 does not. It is possible to interpret that the framers did not intend to grant Congress the power to authorize federal enforcement of this provision. Paul Finkelman has noted that the fugitive slave law, as described in section 2, was not considered to be a major clause in debate and writing of the Constitution, particularly compared to the serious and divisive debate that occurred surrounding the three-fifths clause and the limitations on the slave trade. Finkelman argues that section 2 was almost an afterthought and was not controversial at the 1787 Convention. He states that the founders were probably unaware of the later political significance of the clause. Moreover, subsequent case law related to this clause generally did not support the notion of federal enforcement. (see generally Finkelman, "Prigg")

Primary Source: The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793

ART. 4. For the better security of the peace and friendship now entered into by the contracting parties, against all infractions of the same, by the citizens of either party, to the prejudice of the other, neither party shall proceed to the infliction of punishments on the citizens of the other, otherwise than by securing the offender, or offenders, by imprisonment, or any other competent means, till a fair and impartial trial can be had by judges or juries of both parties, as near as can be, to the laws, customs, and usage's of the contracting parties, and natural justice: the mode of such trials to be hereafter fixed by the wise men of the United States, in congress assembled, with the assistance of such deputies of the Delaware nation, as may be appointed to act in concert with them in adjusting this matter to their mutual liking. And it is further agreed between the parties aforesaid, that neither shall entertain, or give countenance to, the enemies of the other, or protect, in their respective states, criminal fugitives, servants, or slaves, but the same to apprehend and secure, and deliver to the state or states, to which such enemies, criminals, servants, or slaves, respectively below.

University of Oklahoma Law Center: A Chronology of U.S. Historical Documents, www.law.ou.edu/hist/fugslave.html, April 4, 1999 (check citation format)

Primary Source: The Missouri Compromise

Primary Source: Prigg v. Pennsylvania

Primary Source: Henry Clay's Speech on the Fugitive Slave Law

The following is a transcription of Henry Clay's speech in Congress on the Fugitive Slave Law as printed in the Pennsylvania Freeman, February 14, 1850.

Henry Clay's Speech.

We make the following extract from Henry Clay's Speech. It is his entire argument on the 7th of his resolutions.

The next resolution is:

"That more effectual provision ought to be made by law, according to the requirement of the constitution, for the restitution and delivery of persons bound to service or labor in any State, who may escape into any other State or Territory in the Union."

Now, Mr. President, upon this subject, I go with him who goes farthest in the interpretation of that clause in the constitution. In my humble opinion, sir, it is a requirement by the Constitution of the United States, which is not limited in its operation to the Congress of the Unites States, but extends to every State in the Union; and I but go one step further--it extends to every man in the Union, and devolves upon them all an obligation to assist in the recovery of a fugitive from labor who takes refuge in or escapes into one of the free States. And, sir, I think I can maintain all this by a fair interpretation of the constitution. It provides

"That no person sold to service or labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due."

It will be observed, Mr. President, that this clause in the constitution is not amongst the enumerated powers granted to Congress, for, if that had been the case, it might have been urged that Congress alone could legislate to carry it into effect; but it is one of the general powers, or one of the general rights secured by this constitutional instrument, and it addresses itself to all who are bound by the constitution of the United States. Now, sir, the officers of the General Government and bound to take an oath to support the constitution of the United States. All State officers are required by the constitution to take an oath to support the constitution of the United States; and all men who love their country, and are obedient to its laws, are bound to assist in the execution of those laws, whether they are fundamental or derivative. I do not say that a private individual is bound to make the tour of his State in order to assist an owner of a slave to recover his property, but I do say, if he is present when the owner of a slave is about to assert his rights and endeavor to obtain possession of his property, every man present, whether by be an officer of the General Government, or the State Government, or a private individual, is bound to assist, if men at all are bound to assist in the execution of the laws of their country.

Now what is this provision? It is that such fugitives shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.

Primary Source: Jerry McHenry of Syracuse

Primary Source: Correspondence in the Pennsylvania Freeman

The following is a transcription of a letter printed in the Pennsylvania Freeman on September 18, 1851. Immediately following this letter is the response from Governor Johnson.

 

To the Governor of Pennsylvania:

The undersigned citizens of Pennsylvania respectfully represent:

That citizens of a neighboring State have been cruelly assassinated by a band of armed outlaws at a place not more than three hours' journey distant from the seat of government and from the commercial metropolis of the State;

That this insurrectionary movement in one of the most populous parts of the State has been so far successful as to overawe the local ministers of justice and paralyze the power of the law;

That your memorialists are not aware that "any military force" has been sent to the seat of insurrection or that the civil authority has been strengthened by the adoption of any measures suited to the momentous crisis.

They therefore respectfully request the chief executive magistrate of Pennsylvania, to take into consideration the necessity of vindicating the outraged laws, and sustaining the dignity of the Commonwealth on this important and melancholy occasion.

John Cadwalander, R. Simpson, John Smith, Thomas McGrath, S.R. Carnahan, Samuel Hays, Geo. H. Martin, A.L. Rounfort, W. Deal, John W. Forney, Issac Leech, Jr., C. Ingersoll, James Page, Harry Connelly, Frederick McAdams

 

 

Response from the Governor

 

Philadelphia, September, 1851

To Messrs. John Cadwalander, A.L. Roumfort, Jas. Page, C. Ingersoll, Issac Leech, Jr., R. Simpson, W. Deal, Geo. H. Martin, Samuel Hays, S. R. Carnahan, Thos. McGrath, Jon. Swift, Fredk. McAdams.

Gentlemen:--Your letter, without date was this afternoon put into my hands by one of the servants of the Hotel. The anxiety which you manifest to maintain the laws of the land and the public peace, is fully appreciated, and I have great pleasure in informing you that, more than twenty-four hours before the receipt of your letter, the parties implicated have been, through the vigilance and decision of the local authorities, arrested, and are now in prison, awaiting an inquiry into their imputed guilt. The District Attorney and Sheriff of Lancaster county, acting in concert with the Attorney General of the State, deserve special thanks for their prompt and energetic conduct. This was all done early on Saturday morning, and duly reported to me by the local officers.

The testimony taken by the U.S. Commissioner, who arrived at a later period on the ground, a printed copy of which has accidentally reached me this afternoon, confirms me in the belief that the State authorities had vindicated the law, and to a large extent arrested the perpetrators of the crimes.

The cruel murder of a citizen of a neighboring State, accompanied by a gross outrage on the laws of the United States, in the resistance of its process, had been committed; and you may be assured that so soon as the guilty agents are ascertained, they will be punished in its severest penalty by the law in Pennsylvania. I am very proud that the first steps to detect and arrest these offenders have been taken by Pennsylvania officers.

Permit me, gentlemen, having thus removed all just cause of anxiety from your minds, respectfully to suggest that the idea of rebellion, or "insurrectionary movement" in the country of Lancaster, or any where else in this Commonwealth, had no real foundation, and is an offensive imputation on a large body of our fellow citizens. There is no insurrectionary movement in Lancaster county, and there would be no occasion to march a military force there, as you seem to desire, and inflame the public mind by any such strange exaggeration. I do not wish our brethren of the Union to think that in any part of this State, resistance to the law goes undetected or unpunished, or the there exists such a sentiment as treason to the Union and the constitution. The alleged murderers of Mr. Gorsuch, whose crime is deep enough without exaggerating it, have been arrested and will be tried, and they and their abettors be made to answer for that they have done in contravention of the law. But in the mean time, let me invite your co-operation, as citizens of Pennsylvania, not only to see that the law is enforced, but to add to the confidence which we all feel in the judicial tribunals of the land by abstaining from undue violence of the language, and letting the law take its course. Depend upon it, gentlemen, there is in Lancaster county a sense of duty to the laws of the land, manifested in the easy and prompt arrest of these offenders, which will on all occasions show itself in practical obedience. The people of that county are men of peace and good order, and not easily led aside from the path of duty which the constitution prescribes. They and every Pennsylvanian love the constitution and the Union. They will detect, as they have done in this case, and arrest and punish all who violate the laws of the land. There is no warrant, depend on it, for representing the men of Lancaster county as traitors and participants in an "insurrectionary movement." You do them, unintentionally I have no doubt, great injustice.

I am deeply indebted to you for affording me this opportunity of expressing my views. But for your communication I might not have been able to do so. You, and my fellow citizens at large, may be assured of my firm determination, at all hazards and under all circumstances, to maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and enforce obedience to the laws alike of the United States and of this commonwealth.

In order that I may be sure that my answer may reach its destination, (your letter but accidentally come to my hands,) I have requested Mr. White to put it in the hands of Mr. John Cadwalader, whose signature, I observe first.

I am, with great respect,

Your obed't serv't

Wm. F. Johnston

(From the Pennsylvania Freeman, September 18, 1851)

Primary Source: Anthony Burns of Boston