One consequence of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was that every state now had to assist with the recapture of fugitive enslaved people. The act mandated the appointment of a number of new commissioners whose job was to track down and apprehend the formerly enslaved. Their information came from former enslavers, but the act’s provisions did not require corroborating information. Any African-American, free or enslaved, could be taken on the word of an enslaver. A number of former or freed enslaved people lived in Massachusetts and they feared for their freedom. Hunters searched for the enslaved in northern cities, often ignoring the civil rights of free African-Americans. This increased antislavery sentiment among the citizens of these northern states. Strong antislavery sentiment in Massachusetts led the state to stridently oppose any extension of the institution and it was in the forefront of opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act. When the act was passed it agreed reluctantly to follow the law but popular sentiment remained strong. Through the 1850s and into 1860, petition drives in towns throughout the commonwealth pressed the legislature to close down part of the Fugitive Slave Act by forbidding its commissioners or their designated deputies from operating in the state.
Greenfield Gazette and Courier. “News Items.” March 5, 1860. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l02-109/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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