Slave catcher

[1][2] After the establishment of the United States, slave catchers continued to be employed in addition to being active in other countries which had not abolished slavery, such as Brazil.

As a consequence, many of the enslaved population managed to escape detection and flee to regions where they could live as free people of color.

Although historians have noted that the issue is underrepresented in American historiography, female planters would also participate in efforts to recapture escaped slaves.

It was believed to be in the general interest of all planters to maintain discipline so that the enslaved did not have the chance to start a slave rebellion.

However, these orders were often met with resistance from Northern abolitionists, who tried to intervene by blocking entry to the room where a fugitive was being held.

[10] Local government tried to shut this practice down by offering law enforcement agents a greater reward for returning a slave to the South than they could get from abolitionists who were willing to pay police to look the other way.

Many of the slaves joined Union ranks, the United States Colored Troops, taking up arms against their former owners.

[3]: 167 When an enslaved person ran away, they could expect to be questioned and asked to show their emancipation or manumission papers to prove that they were free by citizens or local law enforcement, who looked out for runaway slaves.

Several Northern states passed new personal liberty laws in defiance of the South's efforts to have slaves captured and returned.

The 1850s saw a significant rise in violent conflicts between abolitionists and law enforcement, with large groups forming to counter activities that threatened fugitive slaves.