New immigrant law a reminder of 1850 Fugitive Slave Act – Oklahoma

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it a crime for a citizen to harbor a runaway slave or to offer any assistance to slaves who had run away from their masters. The act was part of the compromise of 1850, which preserved the balance of power in the U.S. Congress between the slave and free states. But it served to inflame passions in the Northern free states where many former slaves had found refuge and gave great impetus to the Abolitionist movement.

Many Northern clergymen had been offering assistance to runaway slaves through the underground railroad, and continued to do so after the law’s enactment.

The Rev. Luther Lee, a Methodist minister in Syracuse, N.Y., said of the Fugitive Slave Act: “I never will obey it. I had assisted 30 slaves to escape to Canada during the last month. If the authorities want anything of me, my residence is at 39 Onondaga Street.” “*

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