English: During the 19th century, abolitionists and slaveholders were at odds over fugitive slave laws, which allowed slave owners to arrest alleged runaway slaves. The laws were sometimes exploited to kidnap falsely accused free blacks. Free states tried to protect escaped slaves by refusing to obey these laws. This print by E. W. Clay, an artist who published many proslavery cartoons, supports the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. In the cartoon, a Southerner mocks a Northerner who claims his goods—several bolts of fabric—have been stolen. "They are fugitives from you, are they?" asks the slaveholder. Adopting the rhetoric of abolitionists, he continues, "As to the law of the land, I have a higher law of my own, and possession is nine points in the law."