The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was very controversial. It required that all citizens were obligated to return runaway slaves. People who helped slaves escape would be jailed and fined. The law enraged Northerners because it made them feel a part of the slave system. Northerners begin to resist the law and helped African Americans escape to Canada.
This made the southerners very angry and encouraged ideas of disunion. Southerners did not want their slaves to runaway to freedom because they needed them to work on their farms and make them money. This law further made the North and South angry and eventually helped lead to the Civil War.
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