Slave Voices

Before Lincoln's election, slaves who "belonged" to "owners" in the South (like Virginia) but escaped to states in the North (like Pennsylvania) were subject to the Fugitive Slave Law. The courts allowed an owner to use "reasonable force" to detain runaways. Anyone who tried to help a detained slave escape would be subject to the scrutiny of a federal "grand inquest".

How did the laws work? The case of "Moses Honner" will make the point.

Moses, who was "owned" by Butler, had escaped. Butler, using legal force, detained him in Pennsylvania. Jeremiah Buck, an abolitionist, tried to "rescue" Moses to prevent him from going back to Virginia and a life of slavery.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Buck's actions in trying to help free Moses were "against the peace and dignity of the United States of America." An indictment, in 1860, was issued against Buck for breaking the law.

Buck was convicted at trial.