A Democratic laborer comments on the problem of abolitionism in the North as well as the South, claiming that the emancipation of enslaved people will result in the damaging of white labor rights and opportunities.

In this newspaper article, the author made an argument against the importation of enslaved Africans and in favor of the importation of European servants, using race to distinguish the differences between labor.

In this document, the U.S. government outlined its new policy towards escaped formerly enslaved persons during the Civil War.

The Fugitive Slave Clause was a stipulation in the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3) that enslaved persons who escaped to another state had to be returned to their previous enslaver if discovered. An essential component of the Compromise of 1850 included a strengthening of that clause, through what was known as the Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850. The bill served as a concession to southern congressmen who wanted increased power to capture formerly enslaved persons. Congress passed the bill on September 18, 1850, and President Millard Fillmore signed it into law on the same day.

Beneath a heading and series of details about the coming auction, the poster describes the 18 enslaved persons to be sold in varying degrees of detail. It identifies the age of each of these persons and offers other details.

The Militia Act paved the way for the Emancipation Proclamation, but it also illustrates inequality and reflects perspectives of white supremacy.

A speech given by Senator John C. Calhoun in which he argues in favor of slavery, saying that it benefits enslaved people, enslavers and the United States as a whole.