# Free Blacks Kidnapped and Enslaved; Was This Really a Thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934 "2014-03-05T16:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/1 "2014-03-05T16:36:00Z")
Best Picture winner _12 Years a Slave_ tells the heartbreaking story of Solomon Northrup, a free, northern black who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. How common was this? Also, he disappeared a second time after his return to freedom. Is it likely he was kidnapped and enslaved again? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/2 "2014-03-05T17:00:08Z")
I can’t produce numbers but the legal system made it possible and it definitely did happen. The Fugitive Slave Act said that all a person had to do was identify a black person as a runaway slave and that gave them the legal right to take that person into custody (and it was illegal for anyone else to interfere - other people were in fact legally obligated to assist if asked). The slave hunter then transported the accused person down to a court in a southern state where there was a hearing to determine if they actually were a runaway. There was effectively no due process; the accused was not allowed to present a defense or any witnesses. So the hearing pretty much came down to the slave hunter repeating his story. The judge then ruled whether or not his claim was true. And as added incentive, the judge was paid a higher fee if he declared the accused was a slave then he was if he declared he was not. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/3 "2014-03-05T17:29:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I can’t produce numbers but the legal system made it possible and it definitely did happen. The Fugitive Slave Act said that all a person had to do was identify a black person as a runaway slave and that gave them the legal right to take that person into custody (and it was illegal for anyone else to interfere - other people were in fact legally obligated to assist if asked). The slave hunter then transported the accused person down to a court in a southern state where there was a hearing to determine if they actually were a runaway. There was effectively no due process; the accused was not allowed to present a defense or any witnesses. So the hearing pretty much came down to the slave hunter repeating his story. The judge then ruled whether or not his claim was true. And as added incentive, the judge was paid a higher fee if he declared the accused was a slave then he was if he declared he was not. Do you have cites for that? Not saying I know you’re wrong, but I’d like to see the cites. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/4 "2014-03-05T17:39:21Z")
Honestly, I don’t see how it could NOT be a thing. The concept of slavery in the first place means you arbitrarily decided that a formerly free person is now a slave, so what’s stopping you from doing it again? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/5 "2014-03-05T17:42:53Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > Honestly, I don’t see how it could NOT be a thing. The concept of slavery in the first place means you arbitrarily decided that a formerly free person is now a slave, so what’s stopping you from doing it again? Yeah I feel the same way. I mean maybe you’ve got papers to show that you’re free but uh if someone is ballsy enough to physically trap you they are ballsy enough to burn said papers. You’ve then got nothing to go on but the color of your skin and that does not help you in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/6 "2014-03-05T17:46:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Do you have cites for that? Not saying I know you’re wrong, but I’d like to see the cites. What kind of documentation do you think would be kept in such places, indicating that yes, they kidnapped a free black man and ruled that he was a slave? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/7 "2014-03-05T18:02:31Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > What kind of documentation do you think would be kept in such places, indicating that yes, they kidnapped a free black man and ruled that he was a slave? [Perhaps the first hand account of someone who was actually kidnapped and held a slave?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Northup) The testament of his friends and associates; his family and records of him being returned from slavery. Maybe if this guy wrote a book and they made a movie about it . . . . ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/8 "2014-03-05T18:14:00Z")
Yeah, I know, Wikipedia, but: [QUOTE=Wikipedia] Slave owners needed only to supply an affidavit to a Federal marshal to capture an escaped slave. Since any suspected slave was not eligible for a trial, the law resulted in the kidnapping and conscription of free blacks into slavery, as suspected fugitive slaves had no rights in court and could not defend themselves against accusations.[sup][5][/sup]. [5] Meltzer, Milton (1971). Slavery: A World History. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-306-80536-3. [/quote] Which of course was exactly the situation described in _12 Years a Slave_. No numbers in the Wiki article, but perhaps the above reference may have some. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/9 "2014-03-05T18:16:55Z")
Slaves were property, and like any other property, there would have been documentation. No doubt court records from those times still exist and could be searched. I haven’t seen the film, but there seems no doubt about its veracity. What we don’t know, is how widespread this practice of kidnapping black people and selling them as slaves was, and how, ow whether, Southern judges connived in the scheme. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/10 "2014-03-05T18:38:35Z")
I think this quote from [Dred Scott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford) sums up the pre-civil war US legal system’s attitude toward it’s black population. [QUOTE=Roger B. Taney] They (blacks) had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. [/QUOTE] It kinda seems like a no brainer since 1. Blacks had little-to-no legal rights (and enslavement was a noble deed). 2. “Aiding” fugitive slaves was illegal. 3. “Recovering” fugitive slaves was rewarded. 4. [Kidnapping was well known by contemporary Americans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slave_kidnap_post_1851_boston.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/11 "2014-03-05T18:44:16Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Slaves were property, and like any other property, there would have been documentation. No doubt court records from those times still exist and could be searched. > > I haven’t seen the film, but there seems no doubt about its veracity. What we don’t know, is how widespread this practice of kidnapping black people and selling them as slaves was, and how, ow whether, Southern judges connived in the scheme. Part of the problem is ID. In the days before fingerprints and DNA, all anyone had to go on was the world of people who should know you, and rough items like “hair colour black, eyes brown, skin brown, height 5 foot 8 inch”. So if a guy shows up with an affidavit, “that’s my property - here’s a bill of sale from 1842 when he was 5 years old…” what are the odds that anyone’s going to do an inventory of the plantation to see if he’s double-counting? Or worse yet, it’s not like a used car registration - they guy could have sold the slave 10 years ago, but keep the bill of sale around to use the next time he finds an unclaimed piece of property. My guess is the only thing that stopped this was the small number of suitable candidates to kidnap. Plus, considering the number of active helpers in the underground railroad and the general reluctance to help with slavery in a number of northern states, I suspect sometimes the kidnapping could not be too blatant. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/12 "2014-03-05T18:46:08Z")
JSexton: > [@](#): > > The concept of slavery in the first place means you arbitrarily decided that a formerly free person is now a slave, so what’s stopping you from doing it again? Arbitrary? Certainly not in all cases. Wasn’t much of ancient slavery made of war conquests and criminals? While it certainly offends our post-1863 morality, it can’t be considered arbitrary. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/13 "2014-03-05T20:10:14Z")
It also wouldn’t be particularly hard to fake a bill of sale to match the man you kidnapped. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/14 "2014-03-05T20:14:29Z")
Free whites were routinely captured and sold into slavery. Of course, because they were white, it isn’t film-worthy. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/15 "2014-03-05T20:30:04Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Free whites were routinely captured and sold into slavery. Of course, because they were white, it isn’t film-worthy. Well, this film was based on a book. Can you recommend a book on a white person kidnapped into slavery? Yes, I’ve heard of the Irish sent to the New World against their will in the 17th century. But I think you’re hinting about something else… ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/16 "2014-03-05T20:43:38Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It also wouldn’t be particularly hard to fake a bill of sale to match the man you kidnapped. Considering the scams we see today - I don’t doubt there were plenty of unscrupulous people willing to do whatever it takes to make themselves rich. IIRC the common wisdom said a typical healthy male slave was worth hundreds of dollars, even thousands - back when that was real money. Once slave traffic from Africa was banned, the long lead times for additional inventory would make slaves even more valuable. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/17 "2014-03-05T20:58:59Z")
During the Gettysburg campaign, [Confederate troops captured free black people](http://books.google.com/books?id=Ma-XQ2KqkyIC&lpg=PA137&ots=0wapaRwHwi&dq=confederates%20%22free%20blacks%22%20%22Gettysburg%20campaign%22&pg=PA137#v=onepage&q=confederates%20%22free%20blacks%22%20%22Gettysburg%20campaign%22&f=false) and Pennsylvania and carried them south into slavery. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/18 "2014-03-05T21:46:52Z")
Robert Louis Stevenson’s _Kidnapped_ is probably at least partly based on a case where a white person, heir to an estate, was allegedly kidnapped and sold into slavery; more details here. > **[James Annesley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Annesley)** > > James Annesley (1715 – 5 January 1760) was an Irishman with a claim to the title Earl of Anglesey, one of the wealthiest estates in Ireland. The dispute between Annesley and his uncle Richard Annesley was infamous in its time, but his story is perhaps best known today as a possible inspiration for the 19th-century novel Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson and other works. > Annesley is said to have been born on April 15, 1715, in Dunmaine, County Wexford, to Arthur Annesley, 4th Baron Altham (16... This case was never satisfactorily resolved. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/19 "2014-03-05T22:15:49Z")
There’s one other black woman on my floor. We look absolutely nothing alike. And yet people confuse us all the time. When I first started, we would get asked if we were related. I repeat: WE LOOK NOTHING ALIKE. So I can totally see slaveowners truly believing they had recovered lost “property”, especially if their runaway ran away a long time ago. And I can see bounty hunters scooping up any guy or woman who “meets the description”. Except for the slave, who the hell is going to care? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934/20 "2014-03-05T22:16:06Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > [Perhaps the first hand account of someone who was actually kidnapped and held a slave?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Northup) The testament of his friends and associates; his family and records of him being returned from slavery. Maybe if this guy wrote a book and they made a movie about it . . . . We all know about this particular incident. The question for this thread is how prevalent it was. I asked for cites to back up what **Little Nemo** posted, which was not focused on one particular incident. I don’t know if you were intending snark, but if so, it’s snark failure. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-blacks-kidnapped-and-enslaved-was-this-really-a-thing/682934.md?page=2)