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Fugitive Slave Laws obligated citizens to help capture runaway slaves no matter if you wanted to or not.
In 1793, the U.S. Congress passed a fugitive slave law. The law allowed owners to recover slaves merely by presenting proof of ownership before a magistrate.

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Three slaves crossed the James River, and asked for asylum at Fort Monroe. General Butler held those slaves as contraband of war because their owner was using them to build a battery. After the news spread  thousands of slaves crossed the borders into Union territory. No slave masters could capture them back because the slaves were legally being held as contraband of war.

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I learned that slaves did not want to murder their owners, but to just simply be free.

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The article summary could be a little longer.I agree with the personal reflection.

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I agree with Everett, the summary should be at least 5 sentences.

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will's personal reflection is really good i agree with him on that. i also think that slaves wished to be free and not cause any bloodshed

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Why couldn't the slave owners take their slaves back?

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The slave owners couldn't slaves back because they were legally being held as a contraband of war.

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Fugitive Slave Laws obligated citizens to help capture runaway slaves no matter if you wanted to or not.

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a person held in servitude as the chattel of another

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Fort Monroe is a fort at the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula

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The slave owners couldn't take their slaves back because they were legally being held as a contraband of war.

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Benjamin Franklin Butler was a major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer and businessman from Massachusetts.

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Contraband was a term commonly used in the United States military during the American Civil War to describe a new status for certain escaped slaves or those who affiliated with Union forces.