Congress passed another Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, as a concession to Southern states, in an effort to preserve the Union and because the 1793 Act was essentially ineffective. Increasingly, the North was clashing with the South regarding the issue of slavery in new states and territories acquired from Mexico after the U.S.Mexican War (1846-48). Finally, the South threatened to secede. Congress then created the Great Compromise of 1850 as a last chance to preserve the Union.
The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act was but one measure in this Compromise. Other measures mandated that California become a free state, that the territorial legislatures of New Mexico and Utah tackle the question of slavery within their borders, that no slave trade be allowed in the District of Columbia, and that, because Texas lost lands to the newly created New Mexico territory, the Federal government would assume some of the debts of the old Texas Republic.
The North also promised to vigorously enforce this new Fugitive Slave Act. Specifically, the Act stipulated that U.S. commissioners, in addition to courts, could issue warrants for runaway slaves and that only a claimant's deposition was necessary to prove ownership of a slave. As a result, even freed blacks were sometimes forced into slavery by unscrupulous whites. Commissioners were rewarded for each fugitive returned to slavery, and thus it was profitable to rule in favor of the claimant. In addition, penalties for harboring slaves were increased; there was now a $1,000 fine, six months jail time, and an imposition of civil damages payable to the claimant.
Essentially, however, the Great Compromise of 1850 satisfied almost nobody. Both sides felt betrayed by the Compromise. Tension between the North and the South continued to grow over the issues of slavery and states' rights. Some Northern states countered the Fugitive Slave Act by enacting state laws nullifying its effects. In the end, the Great Compromise preserved peace for only ten more years.
