THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF 1850 AND THE DRED SCOTT DECISIONBy Ben Burke

THE SITUATION IN CALIFORNIA In 1849 the CA gold rush

began when a local discovered vast quantities of gold in a river.

White southerners took this opportunity to extend the American slave republic to the Pacific Coast.

When CA tried to become a free state, Southern leaders threatened to succeed.

WHY COULDN’T CALIFORNIA BE FREE There was a law that stated that there must be

an equal number of slave states and free states. Before CA became a state there was a balance

between slave and free states.

Free California Fugitive Slave act

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=r42ZFRe70rU

FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT

Both blacks and whites could be deputized in order to help in the recovery of a fugitive slave.

Suspected runaways were denied a trial by jury. Harboring or knowing of a fugitive slave is a

felony.

Abolitionists view Southerners’ view

The Dred Scott

Decision

Scott was born in 1800. Scott moved around with his master Peter Blow

until he died in 1832. He was bought by an army surgeon in1836

named Dr. John Emerson. Dr. John Emerson brought Scott to Illinois, a

free state.

They later moved to Missouri and he got married.

Dr. John Emerson died in 1843. Mrs. Emerson would not let Scott buy his

freedom. Scott sued for his freedom in 1847. This leaded to a string of trials until a final

decision in 1857. In 1857 Dred Scott lost his trial because he

wasn’t a citizen.

Did the Dred Scott Decision Postpone a

Civil War

Many experts say that by having a final decision to send Scott back to his master satisfied Southern leaders which prevented a succession.

WORK CITED "The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act."

Africans in America. PBS. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. “The Dred Scott Decision." Africans in America. PBS. Web.

29 Mar. 2012. “ The Dred Scott Decision.” American Civil War. American

Civil War. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.