Trump’s Deportation Frenzy Echoes the Fugitive Slave Hunts of the 1850s

Trump’s Deportation Frenzy Echoes the Fugitive Slave Hunts of the 1850s

The first five months of Donald Trump’s administration have flashed by like one of those educational time-lapse films that show the growth of a cactus in 30 seconds. Trump’s experiment in rapid national disassembly echoes America’s near-death experiment in the years before the Civil War. In the past few days, we have passed what might be called the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 mark. The struggle in the 1850s arose out of the federal government’s d…

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (1850-1864) was part of the Compromise of 1850, drafted to diffuse tensions between Southern 'slave states' and Northern 'free...