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Article: Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
- Article from:
- West's Encyclopedia of American Law
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FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF 1850
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 mandated that states to which escaped slaves fled were obligated to return them to their masters upon their discovery and subjected persons who helped runaway slaves to criminal sanctions. The first Fugitive Slave Act was enacted by Congress in 1793 but as the northern states abolished slavery, the act was rarely enforced. The southern states bitterly resented the northern attitude toward slavery, which was ultimately demonstrated by the existence of the Underground Railroad, an arrangement by which abolitionists helped runaway slaves obtain freedom.
To placate the South, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (9 Stat. 462) was enacted ...