Learn English – What’s the meaning of “delivering up” here

meaningmeaning-in-contextphrasal-verbsverbs

Context (Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address),

There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions:

I couldn't find deliver up in the dictionaries. So I just want to make sure with a native speaker — Do you think that the construction here is actually deliver + up, and up is just used here for emphasis?

See 6. b —used as an intensifier in Merriam-Webster.

Best Answer

Lincoln is saying that there is much controversy about whether runaways from "service or labor" should be given up to their former masters on demand, rather than being protected from going back. The structure is:

There is much controversy about the [handing over/sending back] of [fugitives from service or labor] when their masters demand their return.

So here deliver [something] up means to surrender it back.

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