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How Did The Fugitive Slave Law Lead To The Civil War

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Before the Civil War began, America was already deeply divided between the North and the South. Furthermore, when the Fugitive Slave Law, was passed by Congress, on September 18, 1850, after having been a law already in 1793 and changed at the request of the southerners, and then repealed in 1864. This law appealed for the return of runaway slaves to their masters and made it a crime to aid or assist the slaves in any way. This created havoc between the North and the South, as this law clearly supported the South and slavery and also put Northerners in a delicate situation as it was nearly impossible to stay neutral. This caused historians to question to what extent the fugitive slave law led to the Civil War. The Fugitive Slave Law led to …show more content…

According to McPherson, “Notable incidents such as the Christiana Riot in Pennsylvania and the capture and trial of Anthony Burns in Massachusetts became focal points of outrage and protest against the law.” Events such as these where black slaves were robbed of their liberty or showed courage by standing up for themselves mobilized the existing abolitionist groups but also helped convince many indifferent Northerners that slavery needed to end, motivating them to mobilize themselves against the South. The North Star, later known as Frederick Douglass’ Paper, was a newspaper created and developed by Frederick Douglass. It aimed to denounce slavery, and this newspaper held the motto; “Right is of no Sex - Truth is of no Color - God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.”. The widespread coverage of these dramatic confrontations in newspapers and pamphlets increased public awareness and sympathy for the abolitionist cause, while in the South, it reinforced pro-slavery attitudes and the perception that Northern states were hostile towards Southern rights (Oakes, 2007). As the North and the South became more and more hostile, the opposition and the social influence had many people confirming their beliefs or investing themselves in the issues with a new interest in the subject. Anyhow, as the North and South continued with their growing polarization, which simply showed the growing cultural and ideological divide between the Union and the Confederacy, making a war somewhat

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The fugitive laws were laws passed by the united states congress in 1793 and 1850 to provide for the return of slaves who escaped from one state into another state or

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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was an act that passed as part of the compromise of 1850 that allowed runaway slaves that were cauthe to be returned to their masters and that the northern free state citizens and officials had to cooperate with this compromise. SB 1070 was a bill that passed that required all aliens over the age of 14 to have documents and to register with the United States government if they plan to stay for longer than 30 days. It would have been a misdemeanor crime to be in Arizona without the right documents and it gave the rights to the state law enforcement to stop, detain or arrested the individuals when there is reasonable suspicion that he/she were an illegal immigrants. The legal similarities between The Fugitive Act of 1850 and SB 1070 was that who ever gave a ride and helped a black person from escaping from slavery can be fined for 1,000 dollars and even be in jail for six months.

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The book also stated that this led to a stronger slave law (Faragher, 363).   The Fugitive Slave Law helped lead toward the civil war as well. This was because the law that was stated increased the power of slave owners to capture the escaped slaves (Faragher, 366). During this time the South was threatening to leave the Union due to

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Tensions between the north and the south were building up prior to the Civil War as slavery became a heated issue between those two regions. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 required

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When most people look at the American Civil War they see a disagreement between the Union (which represented the North) and the Confederacy (which represented the South) that could not be solved in a civil matter and escalated into a war. While this is mostly true there were many other factors that led to the Civil War. It is easiest for us to view the situation through the lense of homeostasis. On a large scale there was a country that was split into differing opinions and the only way to obtain internal stability of the country was war.

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I believe that the Fugitive Slave Act was the main cause of the Civil War. This was when the south forced the north to catch any runaway slaves. Even if they just let the slave go through there property there is a high chance they could still get caught. When they get caught for not catching the slave they get fined 30,000 dollars in today's money. If they were to catch a slave and then have it run away it would be a 100,000 dollar fine.

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The conflicts brew over sectionalism, states’ rights, slavery/segregation, and tariffs. The Union (Northern states) and Confederate (Southern states)’s economy was almost opposite of each other. The Union was industrial, so they had more factories, railroads, and all the other latest inventions at the time. They also had better education including the African Americans. The North had theatres, libraries, and other forms of entertainment.

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The law stated that if anyone was caught helping an escaped slave they would either be heavily fined or put in jail. One of the many issues Northerners had with this law was that a white man could take any black man, escaped or free, and claim him as his slave. Black men also could not testify for themselves to try to prove they were free, it was completely up to the judge to decide

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Slavery had led to a division in the United States. Northerners expressed the abolishment of slavery while the Southerners were in favor of it. During the 1850’s, the United States became polarized due to slavery sentiments on both sides and Congress passed Fugitive Slave Laws. Congress passed the fugitive slave laws in 1793 and 1850 to return slaves who had escaped from a slave state into a free state or territory. The ideology of the fugitive slave law was borrowed from the Fugitive Slave Clause in the United States Constitution (Article IV, Section 2, Paragraph 3).

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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 The war with Mexico had recently come to an end. Territory had just been won over which meant disputes over that same land arose, and there was an ongoing controversial topic still ongoing at the time: slavery. Who was going to be a free state or a slave state? Who was going to get to decide?

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The Southern and Northern states differentiate on many issues, which ultimately led them towards a Civil War. There stood deep social, economic, and political disparities between the North and the South. These modifications stemmed from the understanding of the United States Constitution on both sides. In the end, most of these disputes about the rights of states directed to the Civil War. There existed reasons other than slavery on behalf of the South 's breakaway.

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A fugitive slave act was placed and the slave trade in was abolished in Washington, DC. which would help the North catch slaves and give them back to the South.   The South demanded legislation which caused a second Slave Act. The fugitives could not speak on their behalf at the trial. If the fugitives escaped they would

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