347.The Fugitive Slave Act
The Consti - tution provides that persons held to service in one state escaping into another state shall be delivered up upon claim of the person to whom such service may be due . Congress , in 1793, had passed an act to carry out this provision of the Constitution . But this law had seldom been enforced , because its enforcement had been left to the states , and public opinion in the North was opposed to the return of fugi - tive slaves . The law of 1850 gave the enforce - ment of the act to United States officials . The agents of slave owners claimed many persons as fugitives . But few were returned to the South . The important result of these attempts to enforce the law was to strengthen Northern public opinion against slavery . It led to redou - bled efforts to help runaway slaves through the Northern states to Canada . A regular system was established . This was called the ＂ Under - ground Railway .＂ In short , instead of bringing about " a union of hearts ,＂ the compromise of
1850 increased the il feeling between the peo - ple of the two sections of the country .
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