Today, Sept.18, 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed which made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves. The act exposed the hypocrisy of the Confederates who claimed that the Civil War was fought over states rights. Howard Zinn points this out with the following question included in the article posted below: Where was this love for states rights when the South demanded strict enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, so that Northern states could not become a haven for people escaping slavery?
https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/fugitive-slave-act/