In Washington D.C., the U.S. Senate votes to repeal all remaining Federal Fugitive Slave Acts

After protracted debate and several weeks of postponements, the U.S. Senate passed a measure repealing all of the Fugitive Slave Acts then in force.  These acts had since 1793 required non-slave states under the threat of federal penalties to return all escaped slaves to their masters. Though the laws were in practical terms largely defunct due to wartime measures, Democratic opposition was fierce at times and the final vote of twenty-seven to twelve was largely along party lines.  President Lincoln signed the measure on June 28, 1864.  (By John Osborne)