What was the fugitive slave law?

Fugitive Slave Act- enacted as part of the Compromise of 1850, designed to ensure that escaped slaves would be returned into bondage (right out of my text book)

It also said that all citizens were to help capture the slaves. People that were helping slaves escape could be fined $1,000, and put to jail for 6 months.

The US Constitution, Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3 originally stated that slaves who had escaped to free states must be returned upon demand of their owners:

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.

This was followed in 1793 by the original Fugitive Slave Act, which provided the legal framework for facilitating and enforcing the Article 4 provisions. The later legislation of 1850, part of the Missouri Compromise, served to reinforce and strengthen the original act of 1793.