Twelve Years a Slave · Chapter
A explained
This chapter presents the text of a New York State law passed on May 14, 1840, designed to protect free citizens from being kidnapped or enslaved.
What happens
This chapter presents the text of a New York State law passed on May 14, 1840, designed to protect free citizens from being kidnapped or enslaved. It outlines the Governor's duty to investigate and act upon reports of such abductions, the appointment of agents to secure the victim's return, and the financial provisions for carrying out the law.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy of American Freedom
The law itself is a legislative response to the contradiction between American ideals of liberty and the reality of kidnapping and enslavement of free citizens.
Quest for Freedom
The statute provides a legal mechanism for the state to actively pursue the restoration of liberty to those wrongfully enslaved, underscoring the ongoing struggle for freedom.
Key passages
“Whenever the Governor of this State shall receive information satisfactory to him that any free citizen or any inhabitant of this State has been kidnapped or transported away out of this State, into any other State or Territory of the United States, for the purpose of being there held in slavery... it shall be the duty of the said Governor to take such measures as he shall deem necessary to procure such person to be restored to his liberty and returned to this State.”
If the Governor learns that a free New Yorker has been kidnapped and taken to another state to be enslaved, he must act to secure that person's freedom and bring them back.
This establishes the Governor's responsibility to intervene on behalf of kidnapped free citizens.
“The Governor is hereby authorized to appoint and employ such agent or agents as he shall deem necessary to effect the restoration and return of such person; and shall furnish the said agent with such credentials and instructions as will be likely to accomplish the object of his appointment.”
The Governor can appoint agents to rescue and return the kidnapped person, providing them with official authorization and guidance.
This outlines the mechanism for state action through appointed agents.