Union Generals: Breaking Laws, Freeing Slaves

The Fugitive Slave Laws were a pair of federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of escaped slaves within the United States. The first Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1793 and the second in 1850. The 1850 Act was part of the Compromise of 1850, which was an attempt to pacify the slaveholding South. It required federal officials to assist in the capture of escaped slaves and return them to their owners, even in free states. Union generals broke this law by refusing to recapture escaped slaves and confiscating them as contraband of war, setting them free.

Union generals refused to recapture fugitive slaves

The Fugitive Slave Law, passed in 1850, required that all escaped slaves be returned to their enslavers and that officials and citizens of free states cooperate in their capture. This law was one of the most controversial elements of the Compromise of 1850 and heightened fears of a slave power conspiracy in the North. It also contributed to the growing polarization of the country over the issue of slavery and was one of the factors that led to the American Civil War.

During the early stages of the Civil War, the Union had no established policy on people escaping slavery. Many escaped slaves left their plantations, heading for Union lines. However, in the early stages of the war, Union forces often returned these fugitives to their enslavers. Some Union generals, however, refused to recapture fugitives under the law. One such general was Benjamin Butler, who confiscated enslaved people as contraband of war and set them free, with the justification that the loss of labor would damage the Confederacy. Lincoln allowed Butler to continue his policy but countermanded broader directives issued by other Union commanders that freed all enslaved people in places under their control.

In August 1861, the U.S. Congress enacted the Confiscation Act of 1861, which barred enslavers from re-enslaving captured fugitives who were forced to aid or abet the insurrection. This legislation established military emancipation as official Union policy but only applied to enslaved people used by rebel enslavers to support the Confederate cause, creating a limited exception to the Fugitive Slave Law. Union Army forces sometimes returned fugitives from slavery to enslavers until March 1862, when Congress enacted the Confiscation Act of 1862, which barred Union officers from returning slaves to their owners on pain of dismissal from service.

Although the Union policy of confiscation and military emancipation had effectively superseded the Fugitive Slave Law, it was not formally repealed until June 1864. This repeal was hailed by the New York Tribune, which wrote: "The blood-red stain that has blotted the statute-book of the Republic is wiped out forever."

They confiscated slaves as contraband of war

During the American Civil War, Union generals broke the Fugitive Slave Laws by confiscating slaves as contraband of war. This was made possible by the Confiscation Act of 1861, which stated that any property used by the Confederate military, including enslaved people, could be confiscated by Union forces. The act was passed in August 1861, and it declared that fugitive slaves were to be considered "contraband of war" if their labour had been used to aid the Confederacy in any way. This meant that once they crossed Union army lines, they were classified as captured enemy property and would not be returned to their enslavers.

The term "contraband of war" was first used by Union Maj. General Benjamin Butler in 1861. When three men, Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend, escaped slavery and sought refuge in Fort Monroe, Butler refused to return them to their owners. He argued that these men were being used to wage war against the Union and, as such, could be considered contraband of war. This set a precedent, and soon after, the Union Army began confiscating slaves as contraband of war.

The confiscation of slaves as contraband of war had a significant impact on the course of the Civil War and the eventual abolition of slavery. It not only weakened the Confederate forces by depriving them of labour but also provided the Union Army with a valuable source of labour themselves. Many of the confiscated slaves, now known as "contrabands", were put to work for the Union troops, often as labourers on fortifications. While they were often exploited and underpaid, the contrabands made significant contributions to the Union war effort.

The contraband policy also had important symbolic value, as it marked a shift in the Union's stance on slavery. While President Lincoln had initially been cautious about linking the war with the issue of slavery, the contraband policy sent a clear message that the Union was committed to undermining the Confederate economy, which relied heavily on slave labour. This shift in public opinion towards abolitionism was further solidified by Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

By the end of the war, the contraband policy had helped to liberate thousands of enslaved people, who established communities near Union forces. These contraband camps, often assisted by missionary teachers, became incubators for a new relationship between African Americans and the U.S. government, one that recognised the importance of education and skilled labour in integrating formerly enslaved people into society.

The Confiscation Act of 1861 barred enslavers from re-enslaving captured fugitives

The Fugitive Slave Laws were a pair of federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of escaped enslaved people within the United States. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, in particular, was one of the most controversial elements of the Compromise of 1850 and heightened fears of a slave power conspiracy in the North. It required that all escaped slaves be returned to their enslavers and that officials and citizens of free states cooperate in their capture. This Act made it extremely difficult for enslaved people to escape, especially in states close to the North.

In the early stages of the American Civil War, the Union had no established policy on people escaping from slavery. While some Union generals refused to recapture fugitives, others often returned them to their enslavers. To address this inconsistency, in August 1861, the U.S. Congress passed the Confiscation Act of 1861, which barred enslavers from re-enslaving captured fugitives. This Act, sponsored by Lyman Trumbull, was passed by a near-unanimous vote and established military emancipation as the official Union policy.

The Confiscation Act of 1861 was designed to allow the federal government to seize property, including slaves, being used to support the Confederate rebellion. It authorized court proceedings to strip enslavers of any claim to escaped enslaved people but did not explicitly free them. This ambiguity resulted in escaped slaves being held as property by the federal government. The Act was intended to set a consistent policy across the Union Army, which previously had officers from border states returning escaped slaves to their masters.

While the Confiscation Act of 1861 did not have a significant impact on the rebellion or wartime negotiations, it was an important symbolic measure. It represented a shift towards military emancipation and protecting the freedom of captured fugitives. This Act was followed by the Confiscation Act of 1862, which furthered the cause of emancipation by prohibiting the return of fugitive slaves and allowing the recruitment of African American soldiers.

The Fugitive Slave Act was ruled unconstitutional by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1855

The Fugitive Slave Act, passed in 1850, was a highly controversial law that required all escaped slaves to be returned to their enslavers upon capture. It also mandated that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate in the capture and return of fugitive slaves. The Act was passed as a compromise between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers, but it heightened fears in the North of a slave power conspiracy and contributed to the growing polarization of the country over slavery, ultimately helping to bring about the American Civil War.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a strengthened version of the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which had been enacted to enforce the return of escaped slaves as outlined in the US Constitution. The 1850 Act was drafted by Democratic Senator James M. Mason of Virginia in response to the weakening of the original Act. Southern politicians had argued that Northern abolitionists were stirring up their happy slaves and interfering with "Southern property rights". The new Act penalized officials who did not arrest suspected escaped slaves and allowed enslavers to capture slaves with just an affidavit and without the need for a trial. It also incentivized the capture of fugitive slaves by offering bonuses or promotions to officers.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court's ruling was not an isolated incident of resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act. Several Northern states passed personal liberty laws that protected the rights of accused runaway slaves and free Blacks, who were often illegally captured and sold into slavery. States like Vermont and Wisconsin also passed measures to bypass and nullify the Fugitive Slave Act. Abolitionists openly defied the law, rescuing fugitive slaves from the custody of US Marshals and helping them escape to Canada. The Act was widely condemned in the North, and its enforcement was met with violent resistance and jury nullification.

The 1850 Act was met with violent resistance from abolitionists

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed by Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850, a series of bills that aimed to address issues related to slavery. The Act strengthened existing fugitive slave laws by guaranteeing federal assistance to enslavers in capturing freedom seekers, thus turning the capture of freedom seekers into a federal matter. It also denied enslaved people the right to a jury trial and increased the penalty for interfering with the rendition process to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

Another act of violent resistance to the 1850 Act was the Christiana Riot of 1851, which inspired the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. In this incident, a mob of antislavery activists rushed a Boston courthouse and forcibly liberated an escaped slave named Shadrach Minkins from federal custody. Similar rescues were later made in New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 also took the form of legislative action in some states. Vermont, for example, passed the Habeas Corpus Law, which established a state judicial process, parallel to the federal process, for people accused of being fugitive slaves. This law rendered the federal Fugitive Slave Act unenforceable in Vermont and caused a storm of controversy nationally. Wisconsin also passed a law declaring the 1850 Act unconstitutional, though this was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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