Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves

The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves is a law passed by the United States Congress during the American Civil War forbidding all officers or persons in the military or naval service to return escaped enslaved people to their enslavers with the aid or use of the forces under their respective commands. As Union armies entered Confederate-occupied territory during the early years of the war, encouraged enslaved people began fleeing behind Union lines to secure their freedom.