The Fugitive Slave Act was a part of the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise of 1850 was five bills that were passed in the United States in September 1850, these five bills defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states in the South and the free states in the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War. The Compromise was set out to keep the nation united. It did exactly what it was set out to do. Over the decade the citizens of the country became further divided over the slavery issue. This would continue until the nation divided.
The law brought the slavery debate home to the North, and in the end helped precipitate the Civil War. These set of laws were among the most controversial laws in the early 19th century, the northern states did not respond well to this act and the act became worthless to them. Anyone convicted of violating this act were ofter heavily fined, imprisoned, or even both! After decades of state-to-state
conflicts , the federal government issued a more stringent fugitive slave law as part of the larger compromise of 1850. As part of the law any officer who captured a fugitive slave were entitled to a bonus for their work. The act was very devastating to free blacks living in the north, mostly because they could no longer legally prove they were free, many of them were sent back into slavery in the south.
The law brought the slavery debate home to the North, and in the end helped precipitate the Civil War. These set of laws were among the most controversial laws in the early 19th century, the northern states did not respond well to this act and the act became worthless to them. Anyone convicted of violating this act were ofter heavily fined, imprisoned, or even both! After decades of state-to-state
conflicts , the federal government issued a more stringent fugitive slave law as part of the larger compromise of 1850. As part of the law any officer who captured a fugitive slave were entitled to a bonus for their work. The act was very devastating to free blacks living in the north, mostly because they could no longer legally prove they were free, many of them were sent back into slavery in the south.