The debates upon this proposition were long and interesting. The South regarded it as "an entering wedge of something more comprehensive and radical,"[360] as preparatory to the abolition of slavery in the whole country by Congress. The antislavery party rejoiced that at last an opportunity had come for freeing the national capital from the disgrace of slavery. The bill passed both houses, and was approved April 16, 1862.[361] By the final section of the act the black code of Maryland was wiped out, and the severe local provisions against fugitives, which had not been repealed by the previous act, were at last taken away. It remained only to attack the last stronghold of the system,--the two acts of 1793 and 1850.
=§ 99. Regulations against kidnapping.= In the act of April 16, 1862, were included regulations against kidnapping,--a practice made easy by the unsettled state of the country. It seems to have been largely carried on not only by Southerners, but also by unprincipled soldiers connected with the Union army. The Liberator of March 27, 1863, notices such a case. Some men from the 99th Regiment of New York Volunteers kidnapped a free colored man at Norfolk, Virginia. They took his horse, cart, and the provisions which he had just bought, and offered him for sale to be sent South. During the absence of his captors for a few moments, the man was able to work off his bonds and to escape in the darkness. He immediately went before a provost marshal, told his story, and recognized one of his captors who was just entering the door. What the consequences of this meeting were the "Liberator" does not tell us; but the impression is given that the negro was saved from his pursuers.[362]
=§ 100. Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Acts.=--By the successive acts of Congress and the President, the legal effect of the Fugitive Slave Laws was now confined practically to the limited area of the Border States. No officer, civil or military, could return a fugitive into the Confederate lines. Slavery was forbidden in the District of Columbia, and there could be no escapes thence; and Congress forbade the use of the jails of the District for the confinement of fugitives from slaveholding regions. In the free States the rendition of slaves, though still legally required, had long since ceased. The final step was delayed till 1864.