Was the north really a safe haven for slaves? Up until the Civil War, slavery was present all over the United States. In 1850 the fugitive slave act was passed. This act was apart of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holders and free living Northerners. This act was intended to solve all problems between the North and South on slavery, but it caused more controversy.
The act made it necessary that all slaves that escaped and were captured must be returned to their owners. Regardless of the boundaries and beliefs, the Northerners were still expected to follow it. In the big picture it was just another act so that the slave holding southerners would not lose their "property." The effect on the anti-slavery citizens in the North upset them, and made them responsible for enforcing slavery and going against their beliefs.
A paster of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Syracuse, Revered. Luther Lee, wrote in 1855:
"I never would obey it. I had assisted thirty slaves to escape to Canada during the last month. If the authorities wanted anything of me, my residence was at 39 Onondaga Street. I would admit that and they could take me and lock me up in the Penitentiary on the hill; but if they did such a foolish thing as that I had friends enough on Onondaga County to level it to the ground before the next morning."
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