A Union General Found a Loophole in the Fugitive Slave Act, Causing 1 Million Slaves to Flee North

History Unplugged Podcast · Sep 30, 2025 · 45m

After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, enslaved people feared running away to the North, as their return was mandated, and they faced brutal punishment or even death upon return to deter others from escaping. But that changed during the Civil War. Black slaves in Confederate Virginia began hearing rumors that they could receive their freedom if they reached the Union’s Fort Monroe. Union General Benjamin Butler found a loophole in the Fugitive Slave Act that allowed slaves who fled to Northern lines to be treated as "contraband of war"—seized enemy…