Proof copy of the first printing of The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

Proof copy of the first printing of The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 consisting of a single sheet of U.S. Government-issued blue stock paper folded quarto to form four pages and printed in black ink. At top a handwritten inscription reads [U.S. Congress. / Fugitive Slaves Act.] The printed text begins [AN ACT / TO AMEND, AND SUPPLEMENTARY TO, THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT RESPECTING FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE / AND PERSONS ESCAPING FROM THE SERVICE OF THEIR MASTERS," APPROVED FEBRUARY TWELFTH, ONE / THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY-THREE.]. In the body, there are two annotations handwritten in black ink -correcting "B it enacted" to "Be it enacted," and "courts of United States" to "courts of the United States."

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