Incidents entry 4

The Fugitive Slave Law was a desperate attempt by southerners to keep slavery intact.  The passage of this law caused great anguish for the slaves who fled to the North for a better life only to realize they could be hunted by Northerners who would then have to return them to their masters.   “I was, in fact, a slave in New York, as subject to slave laws as I had been in a Slave State.  Strange incongruity in a State called free!” (Jacobs 199).  This law greatly angered Lynda, “What a disgrace to a city calling itself free, that inhabitants, guiltless of offence, and seeking to perform their duties conscientiously, should be condemned to live in such incessant fear, and have nowhere to turn for protection!” (196).  Linda was amazed by the hypocrisy of this law which only fueled her political outlook and made her more committed to finding ways to help herself and others who shared her circumstances.