Diary of a bounty hunter
Fugitive Slave Act (1850)
Before the Fugitive Slave Act
I am David and I am a bounty hunter.I don’t make much money as I live in Kentucky and just about any slave that gets away escapes into a free state.I do still make some money as some other bounty hunters gives me the description of escaped slaves and I catch them.My brother John lives in Tennessee as a bounty hunter as well and he tells me about any slaves that escape around the area and I catch any that get close to the plantation I work at.I am still a very well known slave catcher as any slave that comes near the plantation I live on Get caught.Now the court just added the Fugitive Slave Act act which allows me to now go into free states and catch the slaves that got away.
Why the act benefits me
This new act is very good because slaves escape into free states.The Fugitive Slave Act allowed bounty hunters,Like myself, to go get escaped slaves and bring them back from free states.This allowed bounty hunters to make more money as they would bring back anyone from free states even if they weren't free.The only bad thing is that this gave people in the north more realization that Slavery is a bad thing.More people started helping slaves escape and they helped in making sure bounty hunters would not get them especially in free states.