JUST A BIT OF, DISMAL, RECOLLECTION

September 18, 1850, the (compromise) "Fugitive Slave Act" became law. It allowed that a "Special Federal Commissioner" could order assistance from "any bystander" in the apprehending of a runaway slave. The act also held that any citizen rendering assistance to a fugitive Negro would be subject to a fine of $1,000, a 6-month jail sentence, and $1,000 in damages, per fugitive slave. Now...this followed, exactly, two days later (September 20, 1850): "Be it enacted....That from and after January 1, 1851, it shall not be lawful to bring into the District of Columbia any slave whatever, for the purpose of being sold, or for the purpose of being placed in depot, to be subsequently transferred to any other State or place to be sold as merchandise. And if any slave shall be brought into the said District by its owner, or by the authority or consent of its owner, contrary to the provisions of this act, such slave shall thereupon become liberated and free."