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This document set includes excerpts from articles and the text of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The first part discusses the population growth during the Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny, as well as the impact on Native Americans. The second part is the text of the Fugitive Slave Act, which strengthened the existing law to make it easier for slave owners to recover escaped slaves in free states. Questions include analyzing the reasons given by John O'Sullivan for Manifest Destiny and President Polk's justification for extending U.S. borders.
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Name__________________ Date____________ **Westward Expansion / Manifest Destiny DBQ Part 1 Directions: Analyze the documents and answer the short-answer questions that follow each document in the space provided. Document 1 :
Document 2 : “The American claim is by right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and our democratic government entrusted to us. It is a right such as that of the tree to the space of air and earth suitable for the full expansion of its principle and destiny of growth. It is in our future far more than in our past or in the past history of Spanish exploration…that our true title is found.”
**- John O’Sullivan – reporter for the Morning News
escaped…. such commissioners, or the persons to be appointed by them, [in order] to execute process as aforesaid, [shall have the right] to summon and call to their aid the bystanders, or posse … and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and assist in the prompt and efficient execution of this law, whenever their services may be required…
And be it further enacted, That when a person held to service or labor in any State or Territory of the United States, has heretofore or shall hereafter escape into another State or Territory of the United States, the person or persons to whom such service or labor may be due [i.e. the slave owner], or his, her, or their agent or attorney, duly authorized… may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person, either by procuring a warrant from some one of the courts, judges, or commissioners aforesaid, of the proper circuit, district, or county, for the apprehension of such fugitive from service or labor, or by seizing and arresting such fugitive, where the same can be done without process, and by taking, or causing such person to be taken, forthwith before such court, judge, or commissioner, whose duty it shall be to hear and determine the case of such claimant in a summary manner… [the claimant must prove with an affidavit] the identity of the person whose service or labor is claimed to be due [i.e. the person who they claim is their slave] as aforesaid, that the person so arrested does in fact owe service or labor to the person or persons claiming him or her, in the State or Territory from which such fugitive may have escaped … [the claimant may] use such reasonable force and restraint as may be necessary, under the circumstances of the case, to take and remove such fugitive person back to the State or Territory whence he or she may have escaped as aforesaid. In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence; and the … [affidavits provided] shall be conclusive of the right of the person or persons in whose favor granted, to remove such fugitive to the State or Territory from which he escaped, and shall prevent all molestation of such person or persons by any process issued by any court, judge, magistrate, or other person whomsoever.
And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent or attorney, or any person or persons lawfully assisting him, her, or them, from arresting such a fugitive from service or labor, either with or without process as aforesaid, or shall rescue, or attempt to rescue, such fugitive from service or labor, from the custody of such claimant… or other person or persons
lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested… or shall aid, abet, or assist such person so owing service or labor as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from such claimant… or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of such person, after notice or knowledge of the fact that such person was a fugitive from service or labor as aforesaid, shall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars,[ 2 ] and imprisonment not exceeding six months … and shall moreover forfeit and pay, by way of civil damages to the party injured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one thousand dollars for each fugitive so lost …
And be it further enacted, That the marshals, their deputies, and the clerks of the said District and Territorial Courts, shall be paid, for their services … he shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars[ 3 ]in full for his services in each case, upon the delivery of the said certificate to the claimant, his agent or attorney; or a fee of five dollars in cases where the proof shall not [be enough to send the person back into slavery]…
And be it further enacted, That, upon affidavit made by the claimant [i.e. the slave owner] of such fugitive…[if a marshal] has reason to apprehend that such fugitive will he rescued by force from his or their possession before he can be taken beyond the limits of the State in which the arrest is made, it shall be the duty of the officer making the arrest to retain such fugitive in his custody, and to remove him to the State whence he fled, and there to deliver him to said claimant…. And to this end, the officer aforesaid is hereby authorized and required to employ so many persons as he may deem necessary to overcome such force, and to retain them in his service so long as circumstances may require. The said officer and his assistants, while so employed, to receive the same compensation, and to be allowed the same expenses, as are now allowed by law for transportation of criminals, to be certified by the judge of the district within which the arrest is made, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. Approved, September 18 , 1850.
