Fugitive Slave Act of 1793

Audience

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 would have been read by judges, state legislators, governors, and other public officers who were charged with enforcing the law. The law’s passage would have immediately been broadcast, as the newspapers of the time regularly reported on the laws passed by Congress. Very few laypeople would have read the actual law, at least until the 1830s, when parts of its text became famous because of the multitude of court cases arising from it and the public discussion that followed.