February 4th- The Fugitive Slave Acts (1793 – 1864), How They Led To Our Modern Police Departments, and the Parallels to the Present-Day Mass Deportation Raids #VRABlackHistory #WeWillToo How Our Ancestors Fought Back and #WeWillToo
Please note, if you’d like to opt out from only the upcoming daily Black History Month Voting Rights Alliance #VRABlackHistory series, please email carnwine@tjcoalition.org. Unsubscribing at the bottom of this email unsubscribes you to all Transformers, not just from this special February Series.
↓ Follow us! ↓
Click the buttons below to share this article to your social networks:
The Transformative Justice Coalition and the Voting Rights Alliance, in honor of Black History Month, are continuing the annual tradition of our daily special series devoted to sharing the legacies and stories of the sheroes, heroes, and events in the fight for Black suffrage. This series was created in 2017 and will introduce many new articles this year. In addition to these daily newsletters all February long, this series also incorporates daily social media posts; an interactive calendar; and, website blog posts to spread the word broadly.
This year, the Voting Rights Alliance’s #VRABlackHistory Series will take readers through the most difficult fights for our African-American voting rights- and how we won.
The 2025 #VRABlackHistory Series #WeWillToo Edition will connect our history to modern times to show just how our ancestors beat the odds. Every day, this series will detail in chronological order the fights for Black suffrage, and will feature articles on the Fugitive Slave Laws and the parallels to the present day mass deportation raids conducted by ICE; the fight for same day voter registration; how our ancestors worked with hostile presidencies and courts to achieve rights; how Juneteenth has been used to mobilize voters; the amazing achievements of the Reconstruction Era; why birthright citizenship began and how the 14th Amendment has been interpreted throughout history; how DEI initiatives started in the 1860’s; the 15th Amendment; how we achieved the first anti-lynching laws in Georgia and how lynching was used to suppress the vote; how we moved past the Jim Crow Era; how Black youth mobilized to lower the voting age to 18; how the Tuskegee Airmen went on to fight for voting rights after their service; how boycotts were used to fight for voting rights; the “Souls To The Polls” voting initiatives of the Black churches in the 1950’s- 1990’s; how Black people fought for voting rights for disabled people; how Black people fought for equal access to the ballot for the LGBTQIA community; how the Brunswick, Georgia community banded together after the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 to vote out their District Attorney; the history of voting rights for Black women and how Black women continue to vote and lead voter efforts at amazing rates; how we have historically used the Black press to fight for our right to vote; and, more.
Our ancestors faced much greater opposition than we do today, even as we face a new hostile federal Administration- and they persevered. The sentiment felt by some African-Americans post-election is to sit back, sit out, and a general feeling of frustration and hopelessness. This Series targets those feelings: we can win! This Edition of the Series is also a tribute to all of those fighting back, especially against efforts to ban DEI and our history. “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” – so let us learn from our history, our beautiful, strong, resilient, Black History.
Feel free to publish on your social media outlets and teach these lessons, with credit given to the Transformative Justice Coalition. Please let us know if you do share the series so we can publicly recognize and thank you. Be sure to send any publications to carnwine@tjcoalition.org so we can repost!
We encourage everyone to share this series to your networks and on social media under the hashtag #VRABlackHistory and to use this series for school projects. You can also tweet us @TJC_DC to share your own facts or connections to this history,
Reporting by: Caitlyn Arnwine (formerly Caitlyn Cobb). This article was written in 2025 with a complete source list at the bottom. Sources are also cited throughout the article.
Today, February 4th, 2025, we are educating about the Fugitive Slave Acts (1793 – 1864), how they led to our modern police departments, and the parallels to the present-day mass deportation raids conducted by ICE. We will also celebrate the Black activists who helped end the Fugitive Slave Laws and examine how we can Practice Black History by voting downballot.
Black people played a crucial role in ending the Fugitive Slave Laws through various forms of resistance and activism. Through the Underground Railroad, Legal Challenges, Public Protests and Riots, such as antislavery activists in Boston forcibly liberating an escapee named Shadrach Minkins from federal custody; Political Advocacy; and Civil Disobedience.
Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, William Still, Henry Highland Garnet, David Ruggles, Robert Purvis, and Margaret Garner all helped to end the Fugitive Slave Laws.
Voting has consequences, as does not voting. Throughout history, people have used the vote to enact the change they wanted see, voting for policies to uphold White Supremacy and voting for policies to dismantle it.
⮚ The Fugitive Slave Acts
“Fugitive Slave Acts, in U.S. history, [were] statutes passed by Congress in 1793 and 1850 (and repealed in 1864) that provided for the seizure and return of runaway enslaved people who escaped from one state into another or into a federal territory. The 1793 law enforced Article IV, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution in authorizing any federal district judge or circuit court judge, or any state magistrate, to decide finally and without a jury trial the status of an alleged fugitive from slavery. The measure met with strong opposition in the Northern states, some of which enacted personal-liberty laws to hamper the execution of the federal law. These laws provided that fugitives who appealed an original decision against them were entitled to a jury trial. As early as 1810 individual dissatisfaction with the law of 1793 had taken the form of systematic assistance rendered to Black enslaved people escaping from the South to New England or Canada via the Underground Railroad.
“The demand from the South for more-effective legislation resulted in the enactment of a second Fugitive Slave Act, in 1850. This act was just one section of a series of bills—known as the Compromise of 1850—passed to address multiple issues related to slavery, including the admission of California as a free state, the creation of territorial governments in Utah and New Mexico, the fixing of the boundary between Texas and the United States, and the abolition of the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in Washington, D.C. Under this law, fugitives could not testify on their own behalf, nor were they permitted a trial by jury. Heavy penalties were imposed upon federal marshals who refused to enforce the law or from whom a fugitive escaped; penalties were also imposed on individuals who helped the enslaved escape. Finally, under the 1850 act, special commissioners were to have concurrent jurisdiction with the U.S. courts in enforcing the law…The severity of the 1850 measure led to abuses and defeated its purpose. The number of abolitionists increased, the operations of the Underground Railroad became more efficient, and new personal-liberty laws were enacted in many Northern states…For some time during the American Civil War, the Fugitive Slave Acts were considered to still hold in the case of Black Americans fleeing from their enslavers in border states that were loyal to the Union government. It was not until June 28, 1864, that the acts were repealed.” (Fugitive Slave Acts | Definition, Impact, Summary, & Transcript | Britannica, n.d.)
Black people played a crucial role in ending the Fugitive Slave Laws through various forms of resistance and activism. Through the Underground Railroad, Legal Challenges, Public Protests and Riots, such as antislavery activists in Boston forcibly liberating an escapee named Shadrach Minkins from federal custody; Political Advocacy; and Civil Disobedience.
Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, William Still, Henry Highland Garnet, David Ruggles, Robert Purvis, and Margaret Garner all helped to end the Fugitive Slave Laws.
“The fugitive slave laws clearly violated the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh amendments, as well as the Constitution’s protection of the right to the writ of habeas corpus…the 1793 and 1850 laws authorized private individuals to ‘seize or arrest’ alleged fugitives without any warrant or other judicial scrutiny. In clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, the law allowed slave catchers without warrants to seize blacks in public and to invade private homes or buildings in the search of fugitive slaves. For example, in 1856 a group of Kentucky slave catchers and a federal marshal stormed into the private home of a free African American in Cincinnati without a warrant, to seize Margaret Garner and her family. During this raid, which clearly violated the Fourth Amendment, Garner succeeded in killing her daughter, rather than see her returned to slavery. Garner and the rest of her family were subsequently taken back to Kentucky to be re-enslaved. Storming a private home with weapons drawn in violation of the Fourth Amendment illustrated how the violence of slavery threatened the liberties of the free people, black and white, in the North, while denying fundamental due process to blacks accused of being fugitives, including many free people…in 1854 police in Boston arrested Anthony Burns in the early evening on a phony robbery charge, kept him isolated in jail all night, and brought him before a U.S. commissioner for a summary hearing first thing in the morning. The commissioner hoped to quickly listen to the slave catcher, write out all the papers, and send Burns on his way to Virginia before anyone knew about the case. However, the lawyer Richard Henry Dana walked by the courtroom, saw what was happening, and immediately intervened on behalf of Burns. Dana shamed the commissioner to actually hold a real hearing with evidence and witnesses. Despite conflicting testimony, the commissioner (who was also a part time professor at Harvard Law School) sent Burns back to Virginia. The fame of the case led to people raising money to buy his freedom. The commissioner, Edward G. Loring, who was also a state probate judge, became a pariah in the community. He was stripped of his judgeship and not renewed at Harvard, and eventually moved to Washington, D.C. This famous case demonstrated how the law fundamentally violated the Bill of Rights…Once a magistrate, commissioner, or judge issued a certificate to remove a slave from a free state, no court could question the right of the slave catcher to take his human “property” to the South. Thus, a justice of the peace, with no legal training, could issue a certificate of removal after a quick and informal hearing, and no judge – not even a state supreme court justice, a United States District judge, or a justice of the United States Supreme Court – could issue a writ of habeas corpus to examine the facts of the case or if the law had been followed.
“In 1793 many white northerners were not focused on the existence [of] slavery in the South, even as all the Northern states had either ended slavery, were in the process of gradually ending it, or, in two of them, debating how to end it. By 1804 every northern state had either ended it outright or passed gradual abolition laws to end it gradually. Starting in the 1820s northern legislatures passed “personal liberty laws,” to protect their black neighbors from being arbitrarily removed to the South without a fair hearing. These laws were also designed to prevent the kidnapping of free blacks. In the 1830s the highest courts in New York and New Jersey declared that the 1793 was unconstitutional. When the Supreme Court struck these laws down, in Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842), many northern states refused to cooperate with the return of fugitive slaves, because they were no longer able to prevent the kidnapping of their free black neighbors.”
These collective efforts, along with the growing abolitionist movement and the eventual outbreak of the Civil War, led to the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Acts in 1864.
⮚ A Brief History on the Origins of American Policing & Why Reform is Difficult
American policing originated with the slave patrols during American slavery which were designed to intercept any “slaves” attempting to escape, and to guarantee that slaves did not interact between plantations.
In order for these slave patrols to operate, they had to deputize all White people to help in their patrolling. This system was based on the premise that enslaved Africans were “chattel property”. This heritage leads to many of the contemporary problems with White vigilantism.
The heritage of US policing being generated from American Slavery has led to an ingrained culture of police being used to maintain racial control and reinforcing White Supremacy. The police code of the blue wall of science insulates and protects police from accountability. Also, police unions and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) endorsements of political candidates are openly leveraged as law and order backdrops by politicians making them beholden to the police unions and FOP.
Police use their union contracts to protect officers from disciplinary actions. Also, police unions and FOP endorsements of political candidates are openly leveraged as law and order backdrops by politicians making them beholden to the police unions and FOP.
⮚ Parallels Between the Trump Administration’s Immigration Policies and Fugitive Slave Laws
Currently, since January 20th, 2025, President Trump’s anti-immigration policies have echoed that of the Fugitive Slave Acts. He has directed the raid of the office of a top immigration lawyer; he and other Republicans in various states have sought to persecute Sanctuary Cities; he has refused due process and locked out legal aid for immigrants; and, maliciously encouraged racial profiling so even several U.S. citizens – with teenagers and toddlers- have been arrested.
(See source list at end of article for articles related to each claim in this paragraph)
⮚ Conclusion
Our right to vote has been called sacred and precious. Our right to vote is vital, or else they wouldn’t of tried so hard throughout history to keep it from us.
We should vote and fight voter suppression because our ancestors fought for us to be able to democratically participate fully in America.
Watch below the 2016 WHUT TV YouTube video featuring Barbara Arnwine discussing broken windows policing.
Black Lives Matter and Highlight the Importance of Downballot Voting #VRABlackHistory 2024
Turn Anger Into Action: we can use the power of the ballot to elect officials who exercise power over various jobs that deeply impact policing. Policies of opposing broken windows policing have become more popular as people have called for the ending of policing in routine traffic enforcement. One of the major problems with US policing is expansive & expensive engagement of police as 1st responders, including in varying social disagreements, problems arising from those suffering from mental illnesses, and domestic disputes which police are not trained & which professionals such as social workers, mental health counselors, and youth developers are better suited.
Also as policing is a major proportion of governmental budgets, it drains resources for reentry support, homelessness services, affordable housing, drug addiction treatment, healthcare, & other essential services.
The Transformative Justice Coalition promotes non-partisan national voter education about the importance of voting, especially for the offices of State’s Attorney, District Attorney, Prosecutor, County Attorney as well as elected officials responsible for the operations of law enforcement.
Sadly, often voters only concentrate on the “top of the ticket” picks for President, Vice President, Governor, Lt. Governor, US Senator, while not thinking about the critical position of State Attorney. Recent high profile and disturbing national events involving racial hate crimes or police misconduct have sharpened some awareness of the role of the State Attorney but left many wondering about the immense leadership role embodied in this position.
Don’t be silent about voting if you have been angered or saddened by police brutality: we can vote for the district attorneys, sheriffs, & judges who all decide whether or not the perpetrators will be held accountable.
Sources for the 2025 Trump Administration Deportation Raids Section
Trump immigration raids snag U.S. citizens, including Native Americans, raising racial profiling fears. (2025, January 28). MSN. Retrieved from https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-immigration-raids-snag-u-s-citizens-including-native-americans-raising-racial-profiling-fears/ar-AA1y1hR6
Multiple Legal Migrants Detained by ICE Amid Trump Blitz. (2025, January 31). Newsweek. Retrieved from https://www.newsweek.com/immigration-legal-migrant-detained-ice-raids-trump-2024014
Crandon, B. (2024, January 1). Federal agents raid immigration lawyer’s office in Providence. MSN. https://www.msn.com/en-us/crime/general/federal-agents-raid-immigration-lawyer-s-office-in-providence/ar-AA1xJNJE?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Long Beach Post Staff. (n.d.). Trump’s order blocking federal funds to sanctuary cities could cost Long Beach millions. Long Beach Post. Retrieved from https://lbpost.com/news/immigration/trumps-order-blocking-federal-funds-to-sanctuary-cities-could-cost-long-beach
Sanchez-Cruz, R., & Anderson, A. (2025, January 22). DOJ tasked with challenging sanctuary laws nationwide. WUSA9. Retrieved from https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/politics/sanctuary-laws-doj-investigative-group/65-235269fb-4bb8-4f73-a67b-9fb83e035540
Irwin, L. (2025, January 22). Homan: Sanctuary cities will see more ‘collateral arrests’. MSN. Retrieved from https://www.msn.com/en-us/crime/general/homan-sanctuary-cities-will-see-more-collateral-arrests/ar-AA1xC0AN
Trump expected to invoke obscure 18th century wartime law for mass deportations. (2025, February 3). USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/03/donald-trump-alien-enemies-act-deportations/78177312007/
As President Trump’s ICE raids ramp up, here’s how immigration enforcement has changed. (2025, January 30). MSN. Retrieved from https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/as-president-trump-s-ice-raids-ramp-up-here-s-how-immigration-enforcement-has-changed/ar-AA1y826p
Know Your Rights: What to Do if You or a Loved One is Detained. (n.d.). National Immigrant Justice Center. Retrieved from https://immigrantjustice.org/know-your-rights/what-do-if-you-or-loved-one-detained
Immigrant advocacy groups file lawsuit after legal orientation programs are shuttered. (2025, January 31). Yahoo News. Retrieved from https://news.yahoo.com/news/immigrant-advocacy-groups-file-lawsuit-224524983.html
No court, no hearing: Trump revives fast-track deportations, expands reach nationwide. (2025, January 27). Tucson Sentinel. Retrieved from https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/012725_deportation_fast_track/no-court-no-hearing-trump-revives-fast-track-deportations-expands-reach-nationwide/
· Fugitive Slave Acts | Definition, Impact, Summary, & Transcript | Britannica. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2025, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Fugitive-Slave-Acts
· Fugitive Slave Acts ‑ Definition, 1793 & 1850. (2023, June 29). HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fugitive-slave-acts
· “Let it be placed among the abominations!”: The Bill of Rights and the Fugitive Slave Laws (U.S. National Park Service). (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2025, from https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-bill-of-rights-and-the-fugitive-slave-laws.htm
· Milestone Documents | National Archives. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2025, from https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/list
· Robert Purvis. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2025, from https://spartacus-educational.com/USASpurvis.htm?form=MG0AV3
· United States & Printed Ephemera Collection (Library of Congress) (Eds.). (1870). “All men free and equal.”: The XVth amendment proclaimed. Message to Congress. – Proclamation of the President (Portfolio 9, Folder 20). J. H. Benham & son, printers; Printed Ephemera Collection. https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.00902000/
Transformative Justice Coalition | 1816 12th Street NW Suite 410 | WASHINGTON, DC 20009 US
