What is Fugitive slave laws?
[[File:Slave kidnap post 1851 boston.jpg |thumb|right|250px|{{Center|A [[poster]] dated April 24, 1851 warning [[black people]] in [[Boston]] to beware of authorities who acted as [[slave catcher]]s}}]] The '''Fugitive Slave Acts''' were two [[federal government of the United States|federal]] [[law]]s that concerned [[wikt:runaway|runaway]] [[slave]]s in the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fugitive-slave-acts |title=Fugitive Slave Acts |website=History |publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC |access-date=15 November 2016}}</ref> The two acts were passed in 1793 and in 1850. They required federal involvement in catching runaway slaves in [[Northern United States|Northern States]].<ref>Anthony J. Sebok, 'Judging the Fugitive Slave Acts', ''The Yale Law Journal'', Vol. 100, No. 6 (April, 1991), p. 1835</ref> The laws were designed to protect [[Southern United States|Southern]] slave [[ownership|owners]].<ref name=fslEV>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Fugitive_Slave_Laws |title=Fugitive Slave Laws |author=Earl Maltz |website=Encyclopedia Virginia |publisher=Virginia Foundation for the Humanitie |access-date=15 November 2016}}</ref> They required those states and [[jurisdictions]] to help in the capture and delivery of [[wikt:fugitive|fugitive]] slaves.<ref name=fslEV/> The laws were very unpopular in the North. They caused a great deal of resentment in the years leading up to the [[American Civil War]]. == Background == [[Slavery]] in [[United States|America]] began in the [[British North America|English colony]] of [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] in 1619.<ref name=AmslaveryHIST>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery |title=Slavery in America |website=History Vault |publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC |access-date=13 November 2016}}</ref> It started with the purchase of 20 [[Africa]]ns from an English [[warship]] named the ''White Lyon.''<ref name=afrjamesNPS>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/histo