written into the Constitution, required free states to return runaway slaves to their owners, some white communities defied the law, allowing escaped slaves to live in their towns peacefully. The Act of 1850 reaffirmed the Constitutional clause and imposed harsh penalties on government officials who did not cooperate with it. This infuriated abolitionists, who feared that soon every free citizen would be legally compelled to assist in returning slaves to their owners. Stowe’s novel was also inspired by the memoirs of Josiah Henderson,
