Thomas Amendment, February 17, 1820

From Annals of Congress, Sixteenth Congress First Session. V. 1 (1820). 427.

"And be it further enacted, That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, excepting only such part thereof as is included within the limits of the State contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited: Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same from whom labor and service is lawfully claimed in any other State or Territory of the United States, such a fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid."