The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was immediately met with a firestorm of criticism. Northerners bristled at the idea of turning their states into a stalking ground for bounty hunters, and many argued the law was tantamount to legalized kidnapping.
Northerners resisted the Fugitive Slave Act in a variety of ways. States like Massachusetts passed ''personal liberty laws'' which were meant to undue the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act. Individual citizens also resisted by hiding escaped slaves or refusing to turn them over to authorities.
Northern reaction against the Fugitive Slave Act was strong, and many states enacted laws that nullified its effect, making it worthless. In cases where the law was enforced, threats or acts of mob violence often required the dispatch of federal troops.
This legislation allowed the federal government to deputize Northerners to capture and return escaped slaves to their owners in the South. Although the Fugitive Slave Act was well intentioned, the plan ultimately backfired. The Fugitive Slave Act fueled the Abolitionist Movement in the North and this angered the South.
The issue of slavery caused tension between the North and South. Some Northern workers and immigrants opposed slavery because it was an economic threat to them; they feared slaves would replace them in the workplace.
Ultimately, what led to the American Civil War were the differences in the North and South's views toward the institution of slavery. There were other aspects within the institution of slavery that led to division in the United States.
the citizens of each territory should be allowed to decide for themselves if they want slavery. Why did most Northerners support popular sovereignty? they believed that northerners would settle the new territories and then vote to ban slavery.