Fugitive Slave Act

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the US congress on September 18th 1850. This declared that all runaway slaves would be returned to their masters is found in the North. This was called the Blood Hound Law by those who opposed it, because of the dogs used to track them down.

Background

Several hundred slaves a year would flee from the south and go to the north where it was free soil. This made slavery a very unstable thing and caused tension between the states.

tension

Prior to the civil war it seems as if the fugitive slave act was enforced and masters from the south wanted to press charges on those in the north. The north reacted strongly to this and began to fight the enforcers of the Fugitive Slave Act, and even harbor slaves.

Abolitionists

People who opposed the law to a certain degree began to be less tolerant of the South. They believed that people should be free men and that they do not deserve that fate so many would sneak the slaves into Canada where the law did not have control of.

The Confederate States

Because the north was so against slavery and even challenged it the South wanted to become its own country to make it’s own laws and enforce slavery in it’s own land without any counterparts. The North did not like this because without the south they lose some control and they thought very strongly against slavery and wanted to abolish it.

The outcome

These two strong opinions countered each other so much that they created a heavy tension that helped start the Civil War. The North wanting to abolish slavery and the South wanting to keep it.