American Civil War
... 1850. At that time, Taylor was president and he decided to let the new state decides what it wants. Because slavery was not economically profitable in west, they decided to join as free state. Northerners were more than happy. But the southern states weren’t and they threatened to succeed. Finally they agreed to let California in as a free state and Washington D.C. is to remain a slave state. Fugitive slave law was also expanded in favor of the southern states. There already was a slave runaway law that let owners to bring back the runaway slaves from the North. But the 1850 Fugitive law gave the owners more power. At the time, slaves were escaping through secret routes known as Underground Railroad. The fugitive law states that anyone apart of that route could face jail for 6 months and $1000 fine. It also allowed slave capturers to get help from the federal marshals when capturing slaves. That law put the government itself in slave enforcement and most federal agents didn’t want to do it. If a person is accused of being a fugitive, he couldn’t refuse it and couldn’t testify in court. When the case was presented to the court, the judge charges fee. If the accused is found to be a slave the judge can charge $10 to the owner, but if the accused is not a slave, they can charge only $5, encouraging the judges to make unfair decisions. The fugitive law took the issue of slavery to the north and let it know what it’s like. Some free black people were taken away and northerners didn’t like it at all. In 1850 in Ohio, when a black man was captured, students from Oberlin College rescued him back and sent him to Canada. Southern states demand for prosecuting of the students. When Ohio refused, they took the case to federal court. Ohio still refused to prosecute even after the jury found the students guilty. There were altogether 9 northern states that refused to go along with slave laws. In the efforts to thwart the harsh Fugitive Slave Law, northern states passed Personal Liberty Laws. In Boston, a free man named Frederick Wilkins was captured while working in a coffee house. The capturer argued that he is a slave name Shadrach. While the jury was still investigating, his friends rescued him. Another case that got a lot of attention was the case of Anthony Burns. As the trial continues, people 50,000 flocked into Boston, most of the anti-slavery. Though Anthony was found to be a slave, abolitionists tried to stop him from being taken away. The federal government had to send troops to Boston to oversee the case, which cost them $100,000 dollars. So in these ways, the division was continuing. Also in the South, there were hundreds if not thousands of rebellion. But Nat Turner Rebellion was different from the others. It was very violent, and many people were killed. Most rebellions were done individually. A slave might set fire to the barn or attack the overseer. But Nat Turner’s was an organized rebellion. It broke out in Virginia in 1831. Nat Turner was also a self-proclaimed preacher. At the time the slaves were banned from the education and religious training, he learned what he could by reading the Bible. Then he r...