HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
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readers of the present generation, it may be well to explain what "The Underground Railroad" really was. It may be defined as the figurative appellation for a spontaneous movement in the free States-extending, sometimes, into the slave States themselves-to assist slaves in their efforts to escape from bondage to freedom. The movement dates back to a period close to the Revolutionary War, long before it received a definite name. Assistance given to fugitives from one State by citizens of another, became a cause of complaint almost as soon as the Government was organized. In fact, the first President himself lost a slave who took refuge at Portsmouth, N. H., where the public sentiment was so strong against his return, that the patriotic and philosophic ''Father of his Country" chose to let him remain unmolested, rather than "excite a mob or riot, or even uneasy sensations, in the minds of well-disposed citizens." That the matter was already one of concern in the minds of slaveholders, is shown by the fact that a provision was inserted in the Constitution for their conciliation, guaranteeing the return of fugitives from labor, as well as from justice, from one State to another.
In 1793 Congress passed the first Fugitive Slave Law, which was signed by President Washington. This law provided that the owner, his agent or attorney, might follow the slave into any State or Territory, and, upon oath or affidavit before a court or magistrate, be entitled to a warrant for his return. Any person who should hinder the arrest of the fugitive, or who should harbor, aid or assist him, knowing him to be such, was subject to a fine of $500 for each offense.-In 1850, fifty-seven years later, the first act having proved inefficacious, or conditions having changed, a second and more stringent law was enacted. This is the one usually referred to in discussions of the subject. It provided for an increased fine, not to exceed SI ,000, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, with liability for civil damages to the party injured. No proof of ownership was required beyond the statement of a claimant, and the accused was not permitted to testify for himself. The fee of the United States Commissioner, before whom the case was tried, was ten dollars if he
