The Fugitive Slave Act: Two Stories of Freedom

1. The Fugitive Slave Act: Two Stories of Freedom Cheryl Metz, NBCT Teaching American History Grant 2010

2. Views of Slavery

3. Views of Slavery

4. Views of Slavery

5. Views of Slavery "The running off of my cook, has been a most inconvenient thing to this family; and what renders it more disagreeable, is, that I had resolved never to become the master of another slave by purchase, but this resolution I fear I must break." Letter to James Ross on November 13, 1797. George Washington then directed Ross to inquire about a slave cook in Fredericksburg and "discover the lowest terms on which he could be had."

7. Buxton, OntarioCanada Elgin Settlement, also known as Buxton, established in 1849 Was one of four organized black settlements to be developed in Canada The land was purchased by the Elgin Association through the Presbyterian Synod for creating a settlement

8. Founder: Reverend William King Originally from Ireland, he became a minister & missionary after his Louisiana wife and child died Influenced by social reforms and the work of the famous British abolitionist, Sir Thomas Foxwell Buxton Arrived in Canada in 1849 with his fifteen former slaves inherited from his wife�s family

9. Elgin Settlement: Land Acquisition 9 000 acres of land, 6 miles in length, 3 in width situated between the Great Western Railway and Lake Erie Land was divided into farms of 50 acres each and had to be purchased by the settlers at the price of $2.50/acre Payments could be made in ten equal installments with 6% interest

10. Rules of the Elgin Settlement No liquor allowed on the settlement Land could only be sold to blacks and had to remain in their hands for ten years Land had to be purchased not leased Each house had to be built at least 24x18x12 feet with a porch across the front Each house had to be built 33 feet from the road, with a picket fence and flower garden in front; prizes were given for the most attractive home (made from the logs cut down from the thick bush surrounding the area)

11. Elgin Settlement School

12. Buxton Liberty Bell

13. Slave Narratives Walter Rimm, Age 80 "My pappy wasn't 'fraid of nothin'. He am light cullud from de white blood, and he runs away sev'ral times. Dere am big woods all round and we sees lots of run-awayers. One old fellow name John been a run-awayer for four years and de patterrollers* tries all dey tricks, but dey can't cotch him. Dey wants him bad, 'cause it 'spire other slaves to run away if he stays a-loose. Dey sots de trap for him. Dey knows he like good eats, so dey 'ranges for a quiltin' and gives chitlin's and lye hominey. John comes and am inside when de patterrollers rides up to de door. Everybody gits quiet and John stands near de door, and when dey starts to come in he grabs de shovel full of hot ashes and throws dem into de patterrollers faces. He gits through and runs off, hollerin', 'Bird in de air!� *"Patterrollers" (patrollers) were white men who served on local patrols organized throughout the South to control the movement of slaves outside their home plantations. Patrollers policed their neighborhoods by challenging any slave whom they suspected of being away from home to produce a written "pass," or authorization, from his or her master. Slaves found without a pass were subject to arrests, beatings, or other forms of violence, some of which led to death.

14. Slave Narratives

15. Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 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 state or territory from whence the person so charged fled,� it shall be 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 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 within 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.

16. Manumission Manumission was the act of freeing a slave by the owner. Sometimes there was a cost: In New Jersey, a 1713 law required a �200 security with the crown and guarantee �20 annual support for the freed man for life. Further, the law made void the manumission of any slave freed by an owner's last will and testament if the executor of the estate refused to post the �200 bond.

17. Official Manumission Records

18. Marshall, Michigan: Abolition Haven Marshall vied with Lansing for the status of Michigan's state capitol in 1847 During the 1840's, Marshall residents expressed strong antislavery sentiments Hosted a meeting of the Michigan Antislavery Society in 1842

19. 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.

20. Crosswhites: The Background In 1843, The Crosswhite family (Sarah, Adam, and four children) arrived in Marshall after escaping enslavement under Francis Giltner in Carroll County Kentucky and settled in Marshall In 1847, Giltner sent his nephew David, grandson Francis Troutman, and others to Marshall to recapture the Crosswhite family. When the crowd and sheriff arrived and subdued the slave catchers, Adam filed a complaint against the men that kept them in jail so the family could escape to Buxton.

21. The Crosswhites: The Rest of the Story A year later, Frances Giltner took federal legal action in the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District in Detroit against seven black and white residents of Marshall and one black man from Kalamazoo for assisting the Crosswhite's in their escape to Canada. The jury could not reach a verdict and in a second trial against only one of the original defendants, Charles Gorham. In that trial Judge John McLean found in favor of Giltner and ordered him to pay the Kentuckian compensation for the loss of the Crosswhites.

22. The Crosswhites: The Rest of the Story The second trial was held in November 1848, and the verdict was rendered for Giltner, assessing his damages at $1926. Together with court costs, the amount owed by Gorham, Hurd and Comstock came to nearly $6000--an amount they couldn't reach with their own resources. The following month, the citizens of Marshall met and adopted a resolution to appoint a Committee of Correspondence to raise funds for the court costs and damages.

23. The Crosswhites: The Rest of the Story In response to the trial, several Marshall citizens issued another set of resolutions to the North Star (Frederick Douglass�s newspaper), on December 29, 1848. One of the four resolutions is as follows: Resolved, That we will never voluntarily separate ourselves from the slave population in the country, for they are our fathers and mothers, and sisters and our brothers, their interest is our interest, their wrongs and their sufferings are ours, the injuries inflicted on them are alike inflicted on us; therefore it is our duty to aid and assist them in their attempts to regain their liberty.

24. Bibliography Elijah of Buxton Christopher Paul Curtis. Scholastic, Inc. 2009 January�s Sparrow Patricia Polacco. Philomel Books (Penguin Young Readers) NY. 2009 Buxton Museum http://buxtonmuseum.com/history/hist-ELGIN.html Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=003/llac003.db&recNum=702 Library of Congress http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page.cfm?ID=2979&Current=01 Library of Congress �Slave Narratives� http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snvoices00.html Living Museum Underground Railroad http://www.the-ugrr.org/home/pulses.asp?ID=&CityID=8

25. Bibliography (con�t) Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce http://www.marshallmi.org/attractions.taf?_function=detail&id=125&_UserReference=89E2E2BA24C00C094B40ADF7 New Jersey Archives http://www.njarchives.org/links/guides/chncl003.html Understanding Prejudice http://www.understandingprejudice.org/slavery/index.php?action=compareQuestions§ion=slavery U.S. Constitution Online http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_slav.html