Since slavery officially ended in the US in 1865, it is difficult for me to understand how any law passed in 1872 could have been used to catch runaway slaves.
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Narrative is more important than facts. Slavery bad. Law to help catch slaves bad (even if law was passed *after* emancipation... they know most won’t know history). Ergo, law must go.
Narrative is more important than facts.
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You have just summed up the Decline and Fall of Western Civilization.