1. Laws, Policy or Acts prior to the American Civil War

2. Fugitive Slave Acts Fugitive Slave Act 1793 Owners/agents could search within free states Must provide evidence of ownership $500 penalty for harboring escapees Effects of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 Abolitionists organized Underground railroad Intentional neglect of the law Federal law superseded any state measures designed to interfere with FSA

3. Fugitive Slave Acts Fugitive Slave Act 1850 Compelled citizens to assist capturing runaways Denied slaves right to jury trial $1000 & 6 mo jail for interfering Effects of Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 States passed new measures intended to bypass/nullify the law Abolitionists doubled efforts creating riots & revolts

4. Repeal of Fugitive Slave Acts Became unenforceable in many Northern states Only 330 slaves successfully returned Republican & Free Soil congressmen introduced bills & resolutions to repeal the acts Persisted until after Civil War was almost over, June 1864.

5. Missouri Compromise 1820 Maine – free/Missouri – slave to keep balance 36-30 north must be free, south sovereign (states decide) Tallmadge proposed an amendment that would have ended slavery-defeated.

6. Compromise of 1850 New version of the Slave Act Outlawed slave trade in Washington DC Western territories sovereign on slavery issue

7. Kansas Nebraska Act - Got rid of Mo Compromise, allowing all territories popular sovereignty. Led to violence in Kansas over the issue of slavery