Practical Illustration of the Fugitive Slave Law

What it is

This 1851 lithograph, held by the Library of Congress, is a political cartoon criticizing the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law under President Millard Fillmore's administration. It depicts a chaotic scene involving violence against a Black woman, attacking the government's role in capturing people fleeing slavery, and implicates Fillmore's Secretary of State, Daniel Webster.

Why it matters

Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Law as part of the Compromise of 1850, requiring the return of escaped enslaved people even from free states. This cartoon shows the anger of abolitionists toward the law and the administration that enforced it, revealing the deep moral and political conflict over slavery during Fillmore's presidency.

Look closer

• What is the cartoonist trying to make the viewer feel about the law and the people enforcing it?
• Why do you think the artist chose to depict the scene this way?
• What does this print tell us about how ordinary people responded to presidential decisions on slavery?