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In 1705, New York took measures to prevent slaves from fleeing to Canada. Virginia and Maryland later drafted laws offering bounties for escaped slaves.
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By 1787, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut had already abolished slavery.
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This act meant that local government was now involved with slavery. They were authorized to capture and return runaway slaves and gave penalties to those who helped aid any escaped slaves. This event brought a lot of controversy and it dragged government into slavery issues.
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In 1840, the black population of Cass County grew exponentially when families were attracted by white defiance of fugitive slave laws. It became a haven for runaway slaves.
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The Supreme Court ruled that individual states did not have to aid in recapturing fugitive slaves. This weakened the first fugitive slave act of 1793.
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By 1843, several hundred slaves were escaping to the North, making slavery and unstable institution in the border states.
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1847 and 1849, planters from the Kentucky counties of Bourbon and Boone led raid into Cass County to recapture escaped slaves.
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Fugitives could no longer testify on their own behalf or permitted a trial by jury. Punishments for those who hid runaway slaves were fairly severe. Under the act of 1850, special commissioners were to have “concurrent jurisdiction with the U.S. courts in enforcing the law”.
