1850 Fugitive Slave Act

The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act was a law passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, which aimed to ease tensions between slave and free states in the United States. It required that escaped slaves be returned to their enslavers, even if they were found in free states. The law imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped runaway slaves and allowed slave owners to capture fugitives without trial. This controversial act heightened tensions between the North and South, fueled the abolitionist movement, and contributed to the growing divide that eventually led to the Civil War.