AP Success - AP US History: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
"Section 7 …any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent [the slave owner] from arresting such a fugitive from service or labor…or attempt to rescue, such fugitive from service or labor…or shall aid, abet, or assist such person…directly or indirectly, to escape from [the slaveowner]...or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of such person, after notice or knowledge of the fact that such person was a fugitive from service or labor…shall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction before the District Court of the United States for the district in which such offence may have been committed…"
Fugitive Slave Act, 1850. The Avalon Project. Yale Law School.
Question 1
According to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, what was the penalty for aiding a fugitive slave?
A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, and community service
Imprisonment for a period not less than one year without the option of a fine
Forced labor for a period not less than one year
A fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months
Question 2
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of which larger legislative compromise?
The Missouri Compromise
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1877
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Question 3
What was the primary purpose of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850?
To grant freedom to slaves who reached northern states
To provide legal mechanisms for the recovery of escaped slaves
To abolish slavery in the northern states
To establish the legality of slavery in new territories
Question 4
Which group was most likely to be opposed to the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850?
Abolitionists
Southern plantation owners
The Supreme Court justices
Members of the Democratic Party in the South
Question 5
The enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 had what effect on the sectional tensions between the North and the South?
It had little effect on tensions as it was rarely enforced
It shifted the debate over slavery from the federal government to state governments
It reduced tensions by providing a clear legal process for slave recovery
It exacerbated tensions by compelling Northerners to participate in the recapture of escaped slaves
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