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Slavery and the Making of AmericaDramatic re-enactment of slaves being transported on a boat
Time and Place Slave Memories Resources The Slave Experience

Time and Place return to introduction
1619 1641 1662 1676 1694 1705 1712 1731 1739 1773 1776 1781 1787 1788 1793 1803 1817
1820 1829 1831 1837 1842 1848 1850 1857 1860 1862 1863 1865 1866 1867 1869 1871 1874
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Personal Property V. Personal Liberties
1842
In the case of Prigg v. Pennsylvania, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the 1793 Fugitive Slave law is constitutional, while state personal liberty laws make unconstitutional demands on slave owners. Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave law is declared the federal government's responsibility, not the states'.

1842
The Georgia legislature declares that it will never recognize free blacks as citizens.

1843
In reaction to the decision in Prigg v. Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and Ohio pass personal liberty laws.

 1844
Connecticut passes a personal liberty law.

1844
North Carolina denies citizenship to free blacks.

1844
Oregon prohibits slavery.

1845
Texas enters the Union as a slave state.

1846
Missouri removes restraints on interstate slave trade.

1846
Texas creates a system for patrolling slaves.

1847
Pennsylvania passes a personal liberty law.

1847
Frederick Douglass breaks with William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist newspaper, THE LIBERATOR, to found a black abolitionist paper called THE NORTH STAR.
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SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York.
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