Under the Compromise of 1850, California entered as a free state, and which federal act was strengthened to aid the capture of runaway enslaved people?

• A. Fugitive Slave Act
• B. Missouri Compromise
• C. Popular Sovereignty Act
• D. Emancipation Act

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is how the Compromise of 1850 tried to balance free and slave states by not only admitting California as a free state but also strengthening federal enforcement to recover enslaved people who fled to free areas. California’s entrance as a free state raised the sectional stakes, so Congress made a stronger Fugitive Slave Act to ensure that enslaved people who escaped to free states could be seized and returned to their owners. This act expanded federal authority, required local officials and even private citizens to assist in the capture, and allowed special federal commissioners to decide a fugitive’s status with limited rights for the accused, increasing penalties for those who aided escapes. The goal was to reassure Southern states that their constitutional property claims would be protected, even as free states faced new obligations to enforce the law. This combination helped explain why the act is associated with the Compromise, while the other options don’t fit the 1850 scenario: the Missouri Compromise is earlier history, and the other names are not the actual measures tied to enforcing fugitive escapees or to this specific compromise.