Compromise of 1850: Wealth Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Act.Section.Line)

Quote #4

That the marshals, their deputies, and the clerks of the said District and Territorial Courts, shall be paid, for their services, the like fees as may be allowed to them for similar services in other cases […]in all cases where the proceedings are before a commissioner, he shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for his services […]; or a fee of five dollars in cases where the proof shall not, in the opinion of such commissioner, warrant such certificate and delivery, inclusive of all services incident to such arrest and examination, to be paid, in either case, by the claimant […] (Fugitive Slave Act.Section 8.1)

One of the North's objections to the updated Fugitive Slave Act, other than it was immoral and brutal, was the way that fees and compensation were distributed. Slave-catchers were paid more when the person they brought in was taken by the slave owner making the claim, and still paid even if the person turned out not to be a slave after all. Putting this monetary motivation out there set up a system that encouraged people to go after Blacks in the North much more aggressively to get the reward money.

Quote #5

[…] it shall not be lawful to bring into the District of Columbia any slave whatever, for the purpose of being sold, or for the purpose of being placed in depot, to be subsequently transferred to any other State or place to be sold as merchandize. (DC Slave Trade.Section 1.1)

Slaves were expensive to buy, but helped plantation owners build huge wealth by providing free labor on a large scale. The large slave depot in Washington was a place very much connected to this southern wealth machine, but the Compromise of 1850 very deliberately shut it down. Between this and the Fugitive Slave Act, the Compromise both hurt and helped the slave-based economy of wealthy southerners.