The Fugitive Slave Act and the Case of Anthony Burns

Article by Meghan Arends

UMass Boston History MA Student - Public History Track - Certificate in Archives

Demonstration Legislation Words

A series of illustrations on yellowed paper. In the center is a black and white portrait of a Black man in a well-made suit. His expression has a slight small and seems to be content. Under the portrait is his signature in cursive, which reads Anthony Burns. 8 smaller illustrations surround the portrait. At the top in the center is Burns again, this time is worn, torn apart clothing. His face is turned away, his feet are barem and his is sitting next to a pile of bags. The caption reads the escape on shipboard. At the top left is Burns in more casual clothing, pants, a baggy shirt, and a coat with a wide-brimmed hat. He looks confused and disgruntled. Two white men stand on either side of him. Both are wearing suits and hats. Each holds an unidentifiable object that appears to be a stick or can of some kind, though could be a weapon. The man on the right has his hand on Anthony Burns's shoulder. It's labeled: arrest in Boston. On the top right, there is a similar illustration. Burns, this time, is in a suit and tophat. He is in handcuffs and has his head down with a sad expression. On the left, a white man stands next to him with a sword or cutlass. On the right, another white man stands with a 19th century gun, possible two, tucked into his belt. Behind them is a large group of soldiers with weapons. It's labeled departure from Boston. At the bottom left is an illustration of Anthony Burns. He is higher up than other people in the illustration, wearing a loose shirt and pants with suspenders. Two white men stand below him, observing him, one holding a whip. On the other side is another person of African descent. It is difficult to tell their sex. Behind Anthony Burns there is a sign that reads auction. The illustration is labeled the sale. In the bottom middle is another image of Burns, looking off to the side. He is wearing a loose shirt. The perspective is looking into a window with bars across it. It is labeled the prison. On the bottom right is another illustration of Burns in a suit. He is mid-speech and is hold his hands out to either side. To people sit behind him, their attention on what Burns is saying. It is labeled the address. In the center on the left side, there is a square post. A whip and a hat rests against it, along with chains and sacks. On the right in the center is a field of crops with a bucked, garden hoe, and whip in front. The bucket contains some of the crop.

Portrait of Anthony Burns published in 1855, a year after his trial and return to Virginia. Burns’ case was the last fugitive slave case in Boston and it incited a violent reaction from the public, who attacked the courthouse in an attempt to rescue him.

Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Slavery Returns to the North: The Fugitive Slave Act and the City of Boston

The fight for liberty and freedom has long been a theme in Boston’s history. It began with the American Revolution, and less than a century later, continued with the fight against slavery. Two groups divided the city: abolitionists, who utterly opposed slavery, and those who both actively and passively supported slavery. This divide is represented by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which was passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, a set of legal measures between slave states and free states. The Fugitive Slave Act existed before 1850, but the new version in the Compromise strengthened its Southern authority over slavery. Pro-compromise Bostonians, such as Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster, supported the law as a means to preserve the Union. The law allowed slave owners and catchers to enter Northern states, arrest those they accused of being runaway slaves, and force them back to the South with court approval. It also granted local authorities federal power to enforce the law.

Abolitionists viewed the Fugitive Slave Act as Southern control over Northern states, upholding the institution of slavery within free territory. In a speech given at Faneuil Hall in 1854, abolitionist leader Theodore Parker stated “we are the vassals of Virginia.” For Boston abolitionists, the Fugitive Slave Act represented a failure to uphold the freedoms secured during the Revolution, and many of the conflicts surrounding the law took place in the same sites of eighteenth century struggles, an area which may be referred to as the “revolutionary corridor.” [1]Gary Lee Collinson, Shadrach Minkins: From Fugitive Slave to Citizen (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998), 61; “Speech Costs Senator His Seat,” United States Senate, senate.gov, … Continue reading

Black and white illustration mostly consisting of people. In the center are two Black men. They are in casual, worn clothes, are barefoot, and have chains around their ankles. Their hands are behind their back. The man on the left is looking off to the side while the one on the right has his head down. Next to them on the right is a military officer in uniform with a sword. He is standing tall, a look of determination on his face. Next to him are a crowd of people in normal clothes for the period. Two children are watching the scene. One man is leaning forward. His fist is outstretched towards the middle crowd. Others are behind them looking towards the men and officers. In the middle of the picture are a large group of officers in uniform. They are marching in line. On the left side are more people watching the scene. Directly in front of them are officers holding them back. Two additional men stand with the Black men in chains. Their clothes are of a high quality and they seem to be paying attention to the crowd of citizens off to the side. They are marching down a street. The picture is labeled the runaway slaves, Anthony Burns and Thomas Sims, returned to slavery. Their march through the streets of Boston. A subtitle reads: with pinioned arms and manacled feet they marched between files of soldiers to a steamer bound for South Carolina from whence they had fled. Vast throngs of men and women watched the procession, many weeping as they gazed.

An artist’s rendition of Anthony Burns and Thomas Sims, both forced to return to slavery under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. However, this image is not based on a true event, as Burns and Sims were not arrested nor sent to the South at the same time. Sims was arrested in 1851, while Burns was captured 3 years later. It more so represents the people the Fugitive Slave Act affected and the response it garnered. 1897.

Courtesy Library Company of Philadelphia

The revolutionary corridor and the landmarks within are historically known for hosting acts of resistance, including many events of the American Revolution. The most important sites for Fugitive Slave Act resistance were Faneuil Hall, State Street, and Boston’s old courthouse; all reside in this area. Both abolitionists of the period and those who sought to disrupt their work used this site, demonstrating the tension between the two groups. In 1835, a mob of anti-abolitionists assaulted William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of the abolitionist paper the Liberator, the night he was scheduled to appear before the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. They reportedly tied a rope around his waist and dragged him into the street. These types of conflicts between abolitionists and those against abolition thickened the tension within the city. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 drew the divisions further. In the eyes of abolitionists, Black men and women now stood further in the line of danger, the threat of slavery continuously looming. The more officials enforced the law, the more resistance grew. [2]“Meeting of Citizens,” August 29, 1935, The Liberator, 139, The Digital Commonwealth, https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/book_viewer/commonwealth:8k71px88g; “Another Argument for Sir Robert … Continue reading

Black and white poster from April 24th, 1851. It reads:

A broadside published by abolitionists a year after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act. Local authorities were promoted by federal law to act as slave catchers and marshals, so abolitionists posted these in Boston to warn Black citizens of the danger that now lurked within the city. 1851.

Courtesy Library of Congress

Activism’s First Steps: The Boston Vigilance Committee

Activism against the Fugitive Slave Act came in different forms, both civil and violent. One method was through community organization. Black Bostonians, in fear of losing their freedom, called for the creation of a “Committee of Vigilance and Safety” in response. They demanded the rebirth of the Boston Vigilance Committee, which also existed in 1841 and 1846. Their goal was to aid Black freedom seekers when federal law threatened that freedom. Resistance involved publications and financial and legal aid. Their actions, and those of many other abolitionists, were civilly disobedient rather than violent. For instance, a broadside published in 1851 warned Black Bostonians to “avoid conversing with Watchmen and Police Officers” because the mayor enabled these slave catchers.

Activists also met frequently when a fugitive slave case presided in the city. Their work, whether successful or not, is visible in some of the earliest cases of the Fugitive Slave Act’s enforcement in Boston, such as the arrests of Shadrach Minkins and Thomas Sims in 1851. These cases, though similar, prompted different reactions from abolitionists and had different outcomes. Boston Vigilance Committee lawyers represented both men in court, attempting to discredit the Fugitive Slave Act. Abolitionists smuggled Minkins out of holding and into safe houses to ensure his escape to Canada but were not able to do the same for Sims. State and local authorities applied safeguards to ensure Sims could not escape, deputizing Boston police as federal marshals. The court ordered Sims’ return to slavery, and abolitionist author Thomas W. Higginson “laid much of the blame for the Georgia fugitive’s return to bondage on the Boston Vigilance Committee’s inability to act, criticizing its indecision and the unwillingness of most committee members to strike out against slaveholders.” The division between taking direct action and simply disobeying the Fugitive Slave Act created a tension within the city. Frustrations grew on both sides, setting the stage for a final act of violent resistance. [3]Dean Grodzins, ““Constitution or No Constitution, Law or No Law”: The Boston Vigilance Committees, 1841-1861,” in Massachusetts and the Civil War: The Commonwealth and National Disunion ed. … Continue reading

Tension Boils Over: The Last Fugitive Slave Case in Boston

The Anthony Burns case demonstrated the building resentment towards federal law that finally erupted after years of pushing and pulling between compliance and resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act. Burns escaped slavery from Virginia in 1854, finding freedom in Boston. Not long after his arrival, he was arrested by the infamous slave catcher Asa Butman, and held in the city’s courthouse to await trial. His capture gripped Boston’s attention because of the split record of previous fugitive slave cases that had divided success for abolitionists. A public meeting was called on May 26 in Faneuil Hall, less than a mile away from where authorities held Burns. The Boston Vigilance Committee decided to protest through civil action, primarily by offering legal aid to Burns and by spreading word of his immoral capture. Committee leader Theodore Parker channeled the spirit of the American Revolution, proclaiming “I have heard hurrahs and cheers for liberty many times; I have not seen a great many deeds done for liberty. I ask you, are we to have deeds as well as words?,” calling for action that would finally devalue the Fugitive Slave Act.

Large poster on aged paper. It reads in bold print: a man kidnapped! A public meeting at Faneuil Hall will be held this Friday this even'g, May 26th, at 7 o'clock, to secure justice for a man claimed as a slave by a Virginia kidnapper, and now imprisoned in Boston Court House, in defiance of the Laws of Massachusetts. Shall he be plunged into the Hell of Virginia Slavery by a Massachusetts Judge of Probate? Boston, May 26th, 1854.

This broadside was published by abolitionist leaders and posted around Boston to call citizens to a meeting at Faneuil Hall to discuss the arrest of Anthony Burns. Their view of the Fugitive Slave Act is clear, as instead of referring to Burns as a runaway slave, the abolitionists called the slave catcher a kidnapper. 1854.

Courtesy Boston Public Library

However, not all abolitionists in Boston believed such meetings and speeches were proactive enough to fight slave law. Militant abolitionists, including Lewis Hayden and Thomas W. Higginson, met separately at Tremont Temple to plan a rescue like that of Minkins’. The meeting fell apart, word spread that abolitionists were attacking the courthouse, and many Bostonians left to join. A group attempted to break into the courthouse to free Burns, generating chaos. Unknown person(s) fired shots and killed a federal marshal, James Batchelder. The attempted rescue failed, and in the wake of the violence, a request was sent and granted for state and federal military forces to move into the city and protect Boston’s courthouse. The trial concluded days later, ordering Burns’ return to Virginia. [4]“A Man Kidnapped!,” broadside, Boston, 1854, Boston Public Library, https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:70796c995; Parker, “Speech of Theodore Parker,” 291; “A Man … Continue reading

Illustration in black and white labeled night attack on the court house. It depicts a street with three buildings visible. It is night time as the moon is visible, clouds partially covering it. A building lines the left side of the street. One window on the left is lit up. All others are dark. In the back of th epicture is another building. It has a cylindrical spire on top. No light is coming from the building. In the street are a mob of people. Some are holding weapons. It seems to be a chaotic setting. A large number of them are grouped together and are walking into the entrace of the building on the left. Others stand further away and observe.

Illustration of the attack on the city’s courthouse led by Boston abolitionists. Their goal was to free Anthony Burns, who had been detained under the Fugitive Slave Act. This violence was the result of years of frustration towards the law. 1856.

Courtesy New York Public Library

The end of the trial did not mean the end of the resistance; it only inspired more. Within the revolutionary corridor, protestors gathered along State Street, lining the route that the militia led Burns. The mayor warned the public not to incite violence against these troops, so activists organized a symbolic demonstration. Men carried a coffin with the word “liberty” inscribed, signifying its death. This in itself elicited a riotous reaction amongst the crowd. The US Marshal and federally deputized local authorities marched Burns through Boston towards Long Wharf, surrounded by the state militia, a cannon at the ready in case of another riot. Bostonians, tired of the Fugitive Slave Act’s unjust authority and surrounded by reminders of their country’s own fight for freedom, made their opinion clear. As the military dragged a free man back into slavery and torture, the crowd shouted their discontent and anger. It was the last fugitive slave case in Boston. Burns returned briefly to Virginia, but abolitionists soon bought his freedom. He made his way to freedom in Canada, stopping once more in Boston along the way. [5]“A Man Kidnapped!” Video; Barker, The Imperfect Revolution, 19 and 20.

A sketch on yellowed paper. It's a wide view of a street. Buildings line each side. In the middle of the street is a procession of people in five sections. The first section in the front is a group of military officers. The first row are riding horseback. They all have muskets with attached bayonets and are in straight rows. Behind them are more officers in a close group, surrounding three others in the middle. The person in the middle, a Black man, is handcuffed. On each side of him is a white man escorting him down the street. Behind them are two more groups of militia similar to the first group. In the very back are a few others in a more scattered person. Lining the road on either side of this procession are officers in a straight line. They are facing the street. Behind those officers are ordinary citizens. They cover the entire walkway up to the buildings.

This is a sketch drawn in 1854, depicting the march along State Street that Anthony Burns was led down by a posse of militia and federal marshals. Lining the streets on either side, standing behind further authorities to protect the procession, were Bostonians. Some watched in support of Burns’ re-enslavement. Others voiced their displeasure for the Fugitive Slave Act and the treatment of Anthony Burns. They shouted “shame” at the passing authorities.

Courtesy American Antiquarian Society

This demonstration of violence was hardly unexpected. Boston, a city known as a crucible freedom, witnessed these kidnappings for years. Each time federal authority forced a free man or woman back into slavery, it placed another weight upon the shoulders of white abolitionists and, especially, Black Bostonians. Broadsides, meetings, financial support, and legal aid were all undermined by the continuous enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act in the city, and it drove abolitionists to more violent resistance in fear that the cycle would repeat itself once more. Boston believed itself a city of freedom, and the Fugitive Slave Act represented Southern slave law trespassing within free territory with the federal government’s stamp of approval. Within the revolutionary corridor, Bostonians resisted the immoral and overreaching law, doing so through their words and protest. The more abolitionists were denied, the more their frustrations rose, and violence and riots became their tools.

Photograph of metal handcuffs in a museum case. There is slight discoloration on the handcuffs, but no serious damage. In front of them sits the key, which is simple in design with an ovular base and a cylindrical post.

These handcuffs were placed on Anthony Burns when he was marched down State Street in June 1854.

Courtesy Revolutionary Spaces

Footnotes[+]



Questions to Consider:

  1. Why did Boston abolitionists decide to use violence as one of their primary methods of resistance? Is violence as a form of protest ever necessary? If so, when?
  2. How are community organization and activism used to fight injustice today?
  3. "The end of [Anthony Burns'] trial did not mean the end of the resistance; it only inspired more." What can this sentence from the article tell us about the people who fought for abolition in Boston?



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Further Reading

“A Man Kidnapped! The Rendition of Anthony Burns.” Video. Boston African American National Historic Site. National Park Service. May 22, 2020. https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=AAE83D11-93A0-23DB-A6F18A20263C4A7B.

Barker, Gordon S. The Imperfect Revolution: Anthony Burns and the Landscape of Race in Antebellum America. Kent: Kent State University Press, 2013.

Collinson, Gary Lee. Shadrach Minkins: From Fugitive Slave to Citizen. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998.

Grodzins, Dean. ““Constitution or No Constitution, Law or No Law”: The Boston Vigilance Committees, 1841-1861.” In Massachusetts and the Civil War: The Commonwealth and National Disunion. Edited by Matthew Mason, Katheryn P. Viens, and Conrad Edick Wright. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2015, 47-73.

Parker, Theodore. “Speech of Theodore Parker at the Faneuil Hall Meeting.” In Charles Emery Stevens. Anthony Burns: A History. Boston: John P. Jewett and Company, 1856.

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