There was a lot of resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Mobs of people, white and black, would attempt to rescue fugitive slaves who had been arrested by U. S. Marshalls or seized by slave-catchers empowered to act under the law. On occasion, people died in these encounters. Juries would not convict people who were clearly guilty of attempting to interfere with the law. People also covertly resisted the law by participating in the Underground Railroad. When is violent resistance justified, when is covert resistance justified, and when is non-violent direct action called for?