Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Glossary

• Circuit Court a court that sits at more than one location in the district it serves
• concurrent jurisdiction the concept that courts at different levels (for example, a state court and a federal court) both have jurisdiction over a case
• District Court a federal trial court, first established by Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1789
• person held to service or labor a slave
• posse comitatus Latin for “power of the county” and referring to the power to create a temporary police force from the citizenry
• Territory any of the western regions that were organized under the federal government but had not yet been admitted to the Union as states