Fugitive Slave Clause

E47302

constitutional clause provision of the United States Constitution

The Fugitive Slave Clause was a provision in the U.S. Constitution that required escaped enslaved people who fled to free states to be returned to their enslavers.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Fugitive Slave Clause canonical	10
Fugitive Slave Clause of the United States Constitution	2

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T373176 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Fugitive Slave Clause
Context triple: [Article IV of the United States Constitution, containsClause, Fugitive Slave Clause]

A. United States Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves 1807
The United States Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807 was a federal law that banned the transatlantic importation of enslaved people into the United States, marking a major legal step against the Atlantic slave trade.
B. Slave Trade Act 1807
The Slave Trade Act 1807 was a landmark British law that made the transatlantic slave trade illegal throughout the British Empire, marking a major victory for the abolitionist movement.
C. Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment is a landmark provision to the United States Constitution that formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the country, except as punishment for a crime.
D. Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of U.S. laws intended to ease sectional tensions over slavery and territorial expansion, notably admitting California as a free state while strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.
E. Peonage Act of 1867
The Peonage Act of 1867 is a U.S. federal law that criminalized debt peonage and other forms of forced labor, reinforcing the abolition of slavery established by the Thirteenth Amendment.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Fugitive Slave Clause
Target entity description: The Fugitive Slave Clause was a provision in the U.S. Constitution that required escaped enslaved people who fled to free states to be returned to their enslavers.

A. United States Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves 1807
The United States Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807 was a federal law that banned the transatlantic importation of enslaved people into the United States, marking a major legal step against the Atlantic slave trade.
B. Slave Trade Act 1807
The Slave Trade Act 1807 was a landmark British law that made the transatlantic slave trade illegal throughout the British Empire, marking a major victory for the abolitionist movement.
C. Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment is a landmark provision to the United States Constitution that formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the country, except as punishment for a crime.
D. Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of U.S. laws intended to ease sectional tensions over slavery and territorial expansion, notably admitting California as a free state while strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.
E. Peonage Act of 1867
The Peonage Act of 1867 is a U.S. federal law that criminalized debt peonage and other forms of forced labor, reinforcing the abolition of slavery established by the Thirteenth Amendment.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	constitutional clause ⓘ provision of the United States Constitution ⓘ
abolishedInEffectBy	end of slavery after the American Civil War ⓘ
appliesInJurisdiction	free states ⓘ slave states ⓘ
appliesTo	enslaved people who escaped from slave states ⓘ persons held to service or labor ⓘ
classification	pro-slavery provision ⓘ
compromiseBetween	free states ⓘ slave states ⓘ
controversy	conflict between federal authority and state personal liberty laws ⓘ moral and political opposition in free states ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ
createdAtEvent	Constitutional Convention ⓘ surface form: Constitutional Convention of 1787
doesNotUseTerm	slave ⓘ slavery ⓘ
draftedIn	1787 ⓘ
foundInClause	Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution ⓘ surface form: Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution
foundInDocument	Article IV of the United States Constitution ⓘ
foundInSection	Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution ⓘ
historicalContext	United States slavery compromise of 1787 ⓘ
historicalRole	contributed to sectional tensions before the American Civil War ⓘ strengthened protections for slaveholders ⓘ
implementedBy	Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 ⓘ Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 ⓘ
influenced	federal fugitive slave legislation ⓘ interstate legal conflicts over slavery ⓘ
interpretedBy	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ surface form: United States Supreme Court
languageIncludes	No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another ⓘ shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due ⓘ
legalEffect	denied freedom to escaped enslaved people in free states ⓘ limited states’ ability to protect fugitive slaves ⓘ
legalStatus	superseded ⓘ
partOf	United States Constitution ⓘ
relatedTo	Slave Trade Clause ⓘ Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ Three-Fifths Compromise ⓘ
relatedToCase	Ableman v. Booth ⓘ Dred Scott v. Sandford ⓘ Prigg v. Pennsylvania ⓘ
requires	return of escaped enslaved people ⓘ that persons held to service or labor who escape be delivered up to their enslavers ⓘ
subject	fugitive slaves ⓘ interstate rendition of persons ⓘ slavery in the United States ⓘ
supersededBy	Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ surface form: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Thirteenth Amendment ⓘ surface form: Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (12)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Article IV → containsClause → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

subject surface form: Article IV of the United States Constitution

Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution → hasPart → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution → containsClause → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

Article IV of the United States Constitution → subjectOf → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

Article IV of the United States Constitution → originallyContained → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

Article IV of the United States Constitution → hasClause → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

Article I Section 9 Clause 1 of the United States Constitution → relatedTo → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

Slave Trade Clause → relatedTo → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 → constitutionalBasis → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 → precededBy → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

this entity surface form: Fugitive Slave Clause of the United States Constitution

Prigg v. Pennsylvania → constitutionalProvisionInterpreted → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ

Act of June 28, 1864 → relatedTo → Fugitive Slave Clause ⓘ