To: WhiskeyPapa
And the commissioner would judge whether the owner's testimony was believable or not, and then send -- as they usually did -- the person back to slavery." Even more than that Walt. If the commissioner found that the black was not to be sent back south, the commissioner recieved a $5 fee from the government. If he found that the black was a "fugitive" he was awarded $5 by the government AND $5 by the person claiming ownership. Bounty hunters figured pretty quickly that they could "buy" a slave in the North for five dollars and sell him in the South for $1000. Such a deal!
233 posted on
11/09/2003 5:31:00 AM PST by
Ditto
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To: Ditto
Even more than that Walt. If the commissioner found that the black was not to be sent back south, the commissioner recieved a $5 fee from the government. If he found that the black was a "fugitive" he was awarded $5 by the government AND $5 by the person claiming ownership. Bounty hunters figured pretty quickly that they could "buy" a slave in the North for five dollars and sell him in the South for $1000. Such a deal! Calling these people heroes, or suggesting they represented an impulse towards freedom, is straight from "1984".
Walt
236 posted on
11/09/2003 6:15:07 AM PST by
WhiskeyPapa
(Virtue is the uncontested prize.)
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