Repeal of the Acts proposed.
§ 100. Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Acts.—By the successive acts of Congress and the President, the legal effect of the Fugitive Slave Laws was now confined practically to the limited area of the Border States. No officer, civil or military, could return a fugitive into the Confederate lines. Slavery was forbidden in the District of Columbia, and there could be no escapes thence; and Congress forbade the use of the jails of the District for the confinement of fugitives from slaveholding regions. In the free States the rendition of slaves, though still legally required, had long since ceased. The final step was delayed till 1864.
§ 101. Early propositions to repeal the acts.—Repeal, however, was preceded by many earlier propositions. The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred Mr. Howe's bill, presented December 26, 1861,[363] did not report until 1863, and then with the opinion that it ought not to pass. In introducing his repeal measure, Mr. Howe spoke of the bill of 1850 as one "which has probably done as much mischief as any other one act that was ever passed by the national legislature. It has embittered against each other two great sections of the country."[364] To take away the law of 1850 would leave in force the act of 1793, which was "good enough."
June 9, 1862, soon after the passage of the acts on the District of Columbia, Mr. Julian presented in the House another repeal bill, which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.[365] As the war progressed, and the antislavery sentiment began to outweigh all others, it became evident that the old law could not much longer obtain. Nevertheless the question was set aside during the session of 1862-63, but in 1863-64 five bills were introduced looking to the repeal of the acts.[366]
Mr. Morris, from the committee to whom all bills for repeal had been referred, reported a substitute for them, June 6, 1864, and this was the basis of the final action of Congress.[367]