Burns Fugitive Slave Case
Encyclopedia
Burns Fugitive Slave Case (1854) was one of three famous fugitive slave cases arising in Boston, Massachusetts, after the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Part of the Vigilance Committee
(1850-61) planned to rescue Anthony Burns
, an escaped slave, from an upper room of the courthouse
. They battered in a door of the building at night, May 26, 1854 and entered, where one of them shot and killed United States Marshal Batchelder while trying to free the defendant.
Despite the committee's efforts, United States Commissioner and Suffolk County, Massachusetts
probate court judge Edward G. Loring
remanded Burns to his owner, Suttle, of Alexandria, Virginia
. On June 2 throngs in the city witnessed Burns' being taken to the ship that would carry him back to Virginia. Several rich citizens paid $1,300 for his purchase and returned him to Boston early in 1855, where they emancipated him.
A grand jury indicted three of those involved in the attack at the courthouse. After an acquittal of one man and several hung juries in trials for the others, the federal government dropped the charges.
Vigilance committee
A vigilance committee was a group formed of private citizens to administer law and order where they considered governmental structures to be inadequate. The term is commonly associated with the frontier areas of the American West in the mid-19th century, where groups attacked cattle rustlers and...
(1850-61) planned to rescue Anthony Burns
Anthony Burns
Anthony Burns was born a slave in Stafford County, Virginia. As a young man, he became a Baptist and a "slave preacher"...
, an escaped slave, from an upper room of the courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
. They battered in a door of the building at night, May 26, 1854 and entered, where one of them shot and killed United States Marshal Batchelder while trying to free the defendant.
Despite the committee's efforts, United States Commissioner and Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Suffolk County has no land border with Plymouth County to its southeast, but the two counties share a water boundary in the middle of Massachusetts Bay.-National protected areas:*Boston African American National Historic Site...
probate court judge Edward G. Loring
Edward G. Loring
Edward Greely Loring was a Massachusetts judge who ignited controversy in Massachusetts and the North by ordering escaped slaves Thomas Sims and Anthony Burns to be returned to slavery under the federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1850...
remanded Burns to his owner, Suttle, of Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
. On June 2 throngs in the city witnessed Burns' being taken to the ship that would carry him back to Virginia. Several rich citizens paid $1,300 for his purchase and returned him to Boston early in 1855, where they emancipated him.
A grand jury indicted three of those involved in the attack at the courthouse. After an acquittal of one man and several hung juries in trials for the others, the federal government dropped the charges.
Source
- Adams, James TruslowJames Truslow AdamsJames Truslow Adams was an American writer and historian. He was not related to the famous Adams family...
. Dictionary of American History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.