This print represents a reworking of an engraving that had been issued in 1852 to commemorate the Compromise of 1850. This group of laws had to address the balance of power between free and slave states, with California joining the union as a free state and the organization of the Utah and New Mexico territories from land ceded by Mexico after the Mexican-American War. The compromise did not address the future of slavery in the territories; presumably it would be decided later by popular sovereignty. Part of the compromise was the much-hated Fugitive Slave Act, which enacted strong measures against those who sought freedom by self-emancipation.  The law required the federal government to assist enslavers in recovering their human property, prevented the accused fugitive from asserting their legal status, and provided punishments for anyone who assisted an enslaved person seeking freedom.

The start of the Civil War and pro-Union sentiment provided the impetus to revisit this image. On this reworked plate, the face of Abraham Lincoln replaced that of South Carolina’s John C. Calhoun, a vigorous advocate for slavery and enslavers. Other pro-Union figures replaced those who sympathized with slavery and the Confederate cause.