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Article: The fugitive slave acts of 1793 and 1850.
- Article from:
- Cobblestone
- Article date:
- February 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The passage of the Thirteenth Amendment at the end of the Civil War in 1865 marked the first time the federal government attempted to protect the rights of African Americans. Until this time, black people in the North were subject to economic, political, and social discrimination. They were denied political rights--often they could not vote, attend public school, or testify against white people. And many of those African Americans lived with the constant fear that they would be accused of being fugitive slaves and forcibly returned to slavery in the South.
Southern white delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 insisted on including certain protections ...