For instance, three U.S. marshals captured an escaped slave, but a group of citizens immediately rescued him (Hughes 134). Newspapers described them as heroes. Abolitionists claimed that the Fugitive Slave Law was made to be broken (Hughes 134). This triggered further disobedience to the law. Jerry McHenry, a runaway Negro who had lived as a free man for year was captured to be returned South. However, a group of men rescued him “in such open defiance of the law that prosecution was deemed futile” (Hughes 136). This made it harder for slaves to be captured. Defiance to the fugitive slave law made it harder for the South to enforce slavery and made Southerners more willing to fight against the abolitionists. The Compromise of 1850 caused major conflict among the North and South, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act furthered
For instance, three U.S. marshals captured an escaped slave, but a group of citizens immediately rescued him (Hughes 134). Newspapers described them as heroes. Abolitionists claimed that the Fugitive Slave Law was made to be broken (Hughes 134). This triggered further disobedience to the law. Jerry McHenry, a runaway Negro who had lived as a free man for year was captured to be returned South. However, a group of men rescued him “in such open defiance of the law that prosecution was deemed futile” (Hughes 136). This made it harder for slaves to be captured. Defiance to the fugitive slave law made it harder for the South to enforce slavery and made Southerners more willing to fight against the abolitionists. The Compromise of 1850 caused major conflict among the North and South, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act furthered