American Slavery: History in an Hour

The State of Massachusetts retaliated by passing the Personal Liberty Act that same year. This new legislation made enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act difficult. It gave rights to runaways, raised the standard for proof of ownership, and made it impossible for state officers to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law by stripping the commissions of lawyers who represented slave owners

Under the Fugitive Slave Law, any African-American, free or slave, could be accused of being a runaway. As they had no rights, they were not entitled to a trial or to speak in their own defence. Slaveholders could prove ownership by appearing before a magistrate and offering oral testimony that the slave was theirs without providing any documented proof

Despite this opposition, war did ensue, Mexico was defeated and the United States gained more territory that was added to Texas. But as a result of the same war, the United States also gained California, which would become a free state, along with a large portion of what would become the American south-west

Despite this opposition, war did ensue, Mexico was defeated and the United States gained more territory that was added to Texas. But as a result of the same war, the United States also gained California, which would become a free state, along with a large portion of what

Abraham Lincoln (pictured above), a young representative from Illinois, opposed the war. He demanded that Taylor prove that Mexico had invaded the United States and that the spot where the invasion had occurred was in fact a part of the United States.

Mexican troops attacked Taylor’s scouts and the US president, James K. Polk, asked Congress to declare war on the grounds that Mexico had invaded the United States

Mexico was not willing to let go of their territory so easily. They refused to acknowledge Texas as being independent from Mexico. It was seen as an act of war and General Zachary Taylor was sent to Texas to help protect the border between Texas and Mexico.

In 1836, the Texans, both white and Mexican, declared independence, and in 1837 petitioned the United States for annexation as the twenty-eighth state, and the fifteenth slave state

During the 1820s, white settlers migrated to Texas, some bringing slaves with them. In 1829, the Mexican government banned slavery and imposed taxes which triggered resistance from the white settlers

A runaway slave no longer had to flee all the way to Canada to escape his owners. When a Northern state outlawed slavery, fugitives saw it as a place where they might – and did – find refuge and freedom