Fugitive Slave Act

A U.S. federal law (notably the 1793 and strengthened 1850 versions) that required the return of escaped enslaved people to their enslavers, criminalizing assistance to runaways and endangering free Black people in the North. It was a central flashpoint in antebellum sectional conflict over slavery.

Claims that use this term

• The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act endangered even free Black people across the North
• Union troops initially enforced the Fugitive Slave Act and returned runaways even during wartime
• Polygenist science was launched amid the Fugitive Slave Act debate.