Which law made it a crime to help runaway slaves and required their return to slaveholders?

Which law made it a crime to help runaway slaves and required their return to slaveholders?

• A. Fugitive Slave Act
• B. Emancipation Proclamation
• C. Gettysburg Address
• D. Black Codes

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is a law that directly criminalized aiding enslaved people who fled and mandated their return to the people who owned them. This describes the Fugitive Slave Act, which was part of a broader effort to preserve slavery by giving the federal government power to capture runaway enslaved people and require their return, even if they were in free states. It also imposed penalties on anyone who helped fugitives evade capture, reinforcing the system of slavery across the country. Why this fits best: it matches the specific combination of making it a crime to assist runaway slaves and mandating their return to slaveholders. The Emancipation Proclamation is about declaring enslaved people in Confederate-controlled areas to be free, not about returning runaways or criminalizing aiding them. The Gettysburg Address is a speech about national purpose and unity, not a law. Black Codes are post–Civil War state laws that limited the rights of freed people, not federal laws focused on returning runaways.

The key idea here is a law that directly criminalized aiding enslaved people who fled and mandated their return to the people who owned them. This describes the Fugitive Slave Act, which was part of a broader effort to preserve slavery by giving the federal government power to capture runaway enslaved people and require their return, even if they were in free states. It also imposed penalties on anyone who helped fugitives evade capture, reinforcing the system of slavery across the country.

Why this fits best: it matches the specific combination of making it a crime to assist runaway slaves and mandating their return to slaveholders. The Emancipation Proclamation is about declaring enslaved people in Confederate-controlled areas to be free, not about returning runaways or criminalizing aiding them. The Gettysburg Address is a speech about national purpose and unity, not a law. Black Codes are post–Civil War state laws that limited the rights of freed people, not federal laws focused on returning runaways.