The Pro-Slavery Expressive Acts

Today in class I learned about the pro-slavery movement and the events that contributed to it. Here are a few things I learned:

The Fugitive Slave Act was a set of two laws that were put into place in 1793 and 1850 that essentially allowed the capture and return of a fleeing slave. The first act was passed to give the locals authority to capture and return a slave, but the second one was passed to help the south retain their slave supply. This set of acts was passed to increase the division between the north and the south. Because the north wasn't as supportive of slavery, many slaves fled the south to the north where they could live and roam freely. But with the new act passed, it was now the north's obligation as legal citizens to contribute to slavery. This act was really the south's strategy to manipulate the north into going against its morals. The two acts were repealed on June 28th, 1864.

Fugitive Slave Acts | Definition & History | Britannica

Social Welfare History Project Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Another pro-slavery expressive act I learned about what the Missouri Compromise of 1820. People who held authority at the time were pro-slavery and therefore wanted to be declared as a slave state, but the majority of the citizens of the US wanted to be a free state. As the United States continued to divide itself on the issue of slavery, Congress passed a law in which Missouri was admitted as a slave state but Maine was admitted as a free state. A line was drawn between the two territories which in my opinion only further emphasized how divided our country was. Looking back in the eyes of our government today, the Missouri Compromise was only a temporary solution to a long-term problem. For this exact reason, though it did spark lots of controversy, the Missouri Compromise was deemed unconstitutional in 1857 by the Supreme Court through the Dred Scott v. Sanford case.

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