AP US History in 1 Minute Daily: Fugitive Slave Act & Abolition Movement (Day 129/309)

Hey APUSHers, let’s chat about the Fugitive Slave Act and the Abolition Movement as part of my series- APUSH in 1 Minute Daily!

Fugitive Slave Bill, Smithsonian

While the enactment of the Compromise of 1850 did resolve the immediate crisis caused by California’s application for statehood, it included a tremendously controversial component- an enhanced Fugitive Slave Act.

Effects of the Fugitive Slave Law, Library of Congress

It created a new corps of federal agents to help capture runaway enslaved persons, criminalized those who aided fugitives, and assigned federal commissioners, without a jury or appeal process, to determine the status of an accused fugitive.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Wikimedia Commons

One major result was an increase in support for the ending of slavery. Abolitionist publications proliferated, including the exceptionally influential novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which presented the cruelty and immorality of the institution.

Caution! Colored People of Boston, Encyclopedia Virginia

Additionally, some northerners increased their support for the Underground Railroad. Some states even put measures in place to defy the act by refusing to return accused fugitives to the South.

As part of the Compromise of 1850, a stricter Fugitive Slave Act was implemented. It led to massive outrage and increased support for abolition in the North.

Join me tomorrow as I explain the Southern Defense of Slavery in the next APUSH in 1 Minute Daily!