MCAP Social Studies Grade 8 Practice Test

The main idea here is federal laws that forcefully recovered enslaved people who fled and punished anyone who helped them. The correct law is the Fugitive Slave Law, specifically the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (which built on an earlier 1793 law). It required escaped enslaved people to be returned to their owners even if they were in free states, and it imposed penalties on people who aided their escape, making it dangerous to assist fugitives or even to sympathize with abolitionist efforts.

This fits the question because it directly describes returning escaped enslaved people and punishing those who helped them. By contrast, the Emancipation Proclamation declared freedom for enslaved people in Confederate-held areas but did not mandate returning fugitives or penalize those who aided them. The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery entirely, ending the institution rather than enforcing returns or penalties for aiding escapes. The Indian Removal Act dealt with Native American relocation, not enslaved people.