Part of the Compromise of 1850 that admitted California to the Union as a free state but designated slavery in the territories a matter for their particular populaces to decide, the new Fugitive Slave Act empowered federal officers to apprehend runaways, denied alleged fugitives basic dueprocess rights, and not only stiffened penalties for those abetting refugees, but also required that citizens actively assist in their recapture. The new law was designed to placate Southerners who were displeased with the other terms of the Compromise and to effectively nullify the 1842 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Prigg v. Pennsylvania. In Prigg the Court had ruled that Edward Prigg, the agent of a Maryland slave owner, could be lawfully convicted of kidnapping under Pennsylvania law for attempting to seize the fugitive bondwoman, Margaret Morgan, in Pennsylvania, a free state. The Court's decision essentially invalidated the 1793 federal fugitive...