On the record
It allowed the personal liberty of a man to be peremptorily decided by a United- States commissioner, acting with absolute power and without appeal.
Source
gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “It allowed the personal liberty of a man to be peremptorily decided by a United- States commissioner, acting with…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine criticizes the power given to U.S. commissioners under the fugitive slave law, highlighting its potential for injustice.
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If this view of the subject be correct, as I think it is, then the Union must utterly perish at the moment when Congress shall arm one part of the people against another for any purpose beyond that of merely protecting the General…
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