OBJECTIVE DO FIRST You will be able to describe the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850. What is a “fugitive” slave? According to the law passed in the Compromise of 1850, what happened to fugitive slaves if they were caught? What happened to the people who helped them?

Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad Despite the Fugitive Slave Law, many slaves continued to escape to their freedom. As we watch the Brain Pop video, fill in your graphic organizer with FIVE FACTS you learn from the video.

NOTES PAGE On the back of your Brainpop notes, complete your notes as we learn about the Northern and Southern response to the Fugitive Slave Law.

The Northern Response The Compromise of 1850 did little to please either side on the issue of slavery, but the law that Northern states refused to enforce was the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. This law punished not only runaway slaves but it also punished any American who refused to help slave catchers. These individuals could be jailed for refusing to help. As American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson said, this law “made slave catchers of us all.”

The Northern Response This angered northerners, especially the abolitionists. When slave catchers arrived in major cities, they were followed and harassed by crowds of angry citizens. Because northern states refused to enforce this law, it was rare that fugitive slaves were ever actually returned to their masters in the South.

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The Southern Response Southerners were outraged that this new law, which was created as part of the Compromise of 1850, was not being enforced. The Underground Railroad continued to assist fugitive slaves escape to their freedom. When slaves were worried that they might be recaptured, many of them fled all the way to Canada.

The Southern Response Despite their efforts to send slave catchers to the north, southerners were rarely successful at recapturing their runaway slaves. Of the tens of thousands of fugitives living in the North during the 1850’s, only 299 were ever captured and returned to their owners.

Check your Understanding Create your summary of the Southern Response to the Fugitive Slave Law!

The Fugitive Slave Act Video Clip: America, Story of Us: 31:00 to 34:00