The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793: Crash Course Black American History #10

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Published 2021-07-23
One of the ways that the US Constitution baked the institution of slavery into the very core of the new United States was through the fugitive slave clause. The clause required that people who escaped slavery be returned to their enslavers. In parts of the US that didn't want slavery, the clause sometimes went unenforced. Today we'll learn about how Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 to enforce that clause, how enslavers throughout the country used that rule, and the long-term effects of this law.

SOURCES:
Somerset v. Stewart, 98 E.R. 499 (K.B. 1772)
Karen Arnold-Burger, Fugitive Justice: Slavery and the Law in Pre-Civil War America, 46 Ct. Rev. 116 (2009).
Louise Weinberg, Methodological Interventions and the Slavery Cases; or, Night-Thoughts of a Legal Realist Symposium: The Silver Anniversary of the Second Conflicts Restatement, 56 Md. L. Rev. 1316–1370 (1997).
H. Robert Baker, The Fugitive Slave Clause and the Antebellum Constitution, 30 Law & Hist. Rev. 1133–1174 (2012).
Allen Johnson, Constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Acts, 31 Yale L.J. 161 (1921).
John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans (New York: Knopf, 1967).
Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge (New York: Atria Books, 2017)
www.law.cornell.edu/wex/habeas_corpus


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SOURCES

-Somerset v. Stewart, 98 E.R. 499 (K.B. 1772)
-Karen Arnold-Burger, Fugitive Justice: Slavery and the Law in Pre-Civil War America, 46 Ct. Rev. 116 (2009).
-Louise Weinberg, Methodological Interventions and the Slavery Cases; or, Night-Thoughts of a Legal Realist Symposium: The Silver Anniversary of the Second Conflicts Restatement, 56 Md. L. Rev. 1316–1370 (1997).
-H. Robert Baker, The Fugitive Slave Clause and the Antebellum Constitution, 30 Law & Hist. Rev. 1133–1174 (2012).
-Allen Johnson, Constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Acts, 31 Yale L.J. 161 (1921).
-John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans (New York: Knopf, 1967).
-Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge (New York: Atria Books, 2017)
-www.law.cornell.edu/wex/habeas_corpus
-www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital…
-www.nps.gov/articles/independence-oneyjudge.htm
-www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/slaves/oneyinter…

#crashcourse #history #slavery

All Comments (21)
  • I really appreciate the last line/call to action. Not studying something because it makes you uncomfortable is exactly how uncomfortable and inhumane situations come to pass. Same reason reading Mein Kampf shouldn't be seen as supporting Nazi ideals, trying to understand what led to or promoted atrocities is key to preventing their reoccurance. Ignorance and isolation from information is never a cure.
  • @MrQueerDuck
    "...looking back, we shouldn't avert our eyes either." This series is coming out as 26 states are banning/limiting the ability to discuss CRT in classrooms. Thank you Crash Course!
  • @JordanLeigh
    So thankful for this series. Crash Course is easily one of the best things to ever happen to YouTube
  • @catrandle9439
    I love this new crash course series. Can we have Native American crash course history? And a First Nation people crash course
  • @mcbased675
    Horrifying I can’t even wrap my head around such evil
  • Knowing my history, has changed my life. Thank you for this series.
  • Oh no, the next episode is going to be tough to get through 😓
  • This is powerful and accurate history. Also, painful but necessary.
  • @citronm1405
    I didn't know there was such a law in the original Constitution. Thank you so much for this excellent series!
  • @Carmen-mp3je
    OMG i am Mexican and i don’t know a lot about American history, just the basic as we are the closest neighbors. I didn’t know or understand the racism and slavory history of US and oh man this serie has opened my eyes and made me understand so many things… I didn’t know about these laws that basically protected enslavors!
  • @uncrazy2614
    Does every episode get tougher then the other...if we want to know truth, we must go through the terrible stuff
  • @Jerry-ny7rr
    Thank you sir for this very crucial information
  • Crash course is a great way to teach black history that is both truthful and insightful. To understand today we look to the past.
  • @EM_1989
    I really appreciate this series, which goes into more depth than my history class ever did
  • @Just2gofoods
    I’ve learned so much in this excellent video. Thank you!