Boston Vigilance Committee
Encyclopedia
Boston Vigilance Committee was an abolitionist
organization formed in Boston, Massachusetts on June 4, 1841 at the Marlboro Chapel, Hall No. 3. http://books.google.com/books?id=xRe7QTtXaFcC&pg=RA4-PA99&lpg=RA4-PA99&dq=%22boston+vigilance+committee%22&source=web&ots=53_RV_nuCk&sig=-sK6xDd9od2gM-1S0IcjhixqwXA
with the mission of aiding fugitive slaves
from being kidnapped, and returned to their Southern
owners in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
. The organization was led by Theodore Parker
, an American
Transcendentalist
and reforming
minister of the Unitarian
church. Parker is known to history as a member of the Secret Six
, an abolitionist group which supported John Brown
.
, in the 19th century United States
, was a group of private citizens who organized themselves for self-protection. The committees were established in areas where there was no local law enforcement, or where the local government was ineffectual, corrupt, or unpopular. The groups, despite generally held opinions, were not mobs of unorganized individuals bent on revenge of the moment, but usually well-organized, with charters defining their purposes and official membership lists. Some were public, but many were secret. Secrecy prevented retaliation by lawless or corrupt organizations and also made it difficult for government officials to pursue criminal charges in areas where the government held jurisdiction. Vigilance committees are not unique to the United States and existed into the 20th century.
Before the Civil War
, Fugitive Slave Laws authorized slave hunters to pursue run-away slaves into non-slave states. All through the North, vigilance committees opposed to slavery provided fugitive slaves food, clothing, temporary shelter, etc. They also assisted run-aways in making their way
toward Canada
, which did not recognize the Fugitive Slave Act.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
was a Federal
law which enforced a section of the United States Constitution
that required the return of runaway slaves. It sought to force the authorities in free states to return fugitive slaves to their masters. In practice, however, the law was rarely enforced.
Some Northern states passed "personal liberty laws
", mandating a jury trial before alleged fugitive slaves could be moved. Otherwise, they feared free blacks (who could vote in ten of the 13 states at the time of the adoption of the Constitution) could be kidnapped into slavery. Other states forbade the use of local jails or the assistance of state officials in the arrest or return of such fugitives. In some cases, juries simply refused to convict
individuals who had been indicted under the Federal law. Moreover, locals in some areas actively fought attempts to seize fugitives and return them to the South.
The Missouri State Supreme Court routinely held that transportation of slaves into free states automatically made them free. The U.S. Supreme Court
ruled, in Prigg v. Pennsylvania
(1842), that states did not have to proffer aid in the hunting or recapture of slaves, greatly weakening the law of 1793.
In the response to the weakening of the original fugitive slave act, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made any Federal marshal
or other official who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave liable to a fine of $1,000. Law-enforcement officials everywhere now had a duty to arrest anyone suspected of being a runaway slave on no more evidence than a claimant's sworn testimony of ownership. The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf. In addition, any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was subject to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Officers who captured a fugitive slave were entitled to a fee for their work.
With this new law, many Northern citizens of the United States felt compromised in their views on slavery. Whereas the Underground Railroad
had previously supported fugitive slaves escape from Southern
slaveholding
states to freedom in Northern
states, the Fugitive Slave Law left those who opposed slavery with the immediate choice of either defying what they believed was an unjust law, or breaking with their beliefs.
The case of escaped slave Anthony Burns
fell under this statute. His arrest in Boston, and Judge Edward G. Loring
's decision to order him back into slavery in Virginia
, outraged Abolitionists and many ordinary Bostonians, who were increasingly hostile towards the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
. Abolitionist plans to free Burns from prison and spirit him to safety were frustrated when President Pierce
deployed federal artillery
and Marines to take Burns to the ship back to Virginia.
Additionally the Committee also carried out more violent resistance. In 1851, members stormed Federal marshals and freed Shadrach Minkins
, a slave who escaped from Virginia, and who had been captured in Boston.http://www.masshist.org/longroad/01slavery/minkins.htm
Associates of the group included Francis Jackson
.
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
organization formed in Boston, Massachusetts on June 4, 1841 at the Marlboro Chapel, Hall No. 3. http://books.google.com/books?id=xRe7QTtXaFcC&pg=RA4-PA99&lpg=RA4-PA99&dq=%22boston+vigilance+committee%22&source=web&ots=53_RV_nuCk&sig=-sK6xDd9od2gM-1S0IcjhixqwXA
with the mission of aiding fugitive slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
from being kidnapped, and returned to their Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
owners in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened...
. The organization was led by Theodore Parker
Theodore Parker
Theodore Parker was an American Transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church...
, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Transcendentalist
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s in the New England region of the United States as a protest against the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian...
and reforming
Reform movement
A reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes...
minister of the Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
church. Parker is known to history as a member of the Secret Six
Secret Six
The Secret Six, or the Secret Committee of Six, were six wealthy and influential men who secretly funded the American abolitionist, John Brown. They were Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Samuel Gridley Howe, Theodore Parker, Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, Gerrit Smith, and George Luther Stearns...
, an abolitionist group which supported John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
.
Background
A vigilance committeeVigilance 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...
, in the 19th century United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, was a group of private citizens who organized themselves for self-protection. The committees were established in areas where there was no local law enforcement, or where the local government was ineffectual, corrupt, or unpopular. The groups, despite generally held opinions, were not mobs of unorganized individuals bent on revenge of the moment, but usually well-organized, with charters defining their purposes and official membership lists. Some were public, but many were secret. Secrecy prevented retaliation by lawless or corrupt organizations and also made it difficult for government officials to pursue criminal charges in areas where the government held jurisdiction. Vigilance committees are not unique to the United States and existed into the 20th century.
Before the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Fugitive Slave Laws authorized slave hunters to pursue run-away slaves into non-slave states. All through the North, vigilance committees opposed to slavery provided fugitive slaves food, clothing, temporary shelter, etc. They also assisted run-aways in making their way
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
toward Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, which did not recognize the Fugitive Slave Act.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
The Fugitive Slave Clause of the U.S. Constitution guaranteed the right of a slaveholder to recover an escaped slave...
was a Federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
law which enforced a section of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
that required the return of runaway slaves. It sought to force the authorities in free states to return fugitive slaves to their masters. In practice, however, the law was rarely enforced.
Some Northern states passed "personal liberty laws
Personal liberty laws
.....The personal liberty laws were a series of laws passed by several U.S. states in the North in respone to the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850.-Origins:...
", mandating a jury trial before alleged fugitive slaves could be moved. Otherwise, they feared free blacks (who could vote in ten of the 13 states at the time of the adoption of the Constitution) could be kidnapped into slavery. Other states forbade the use of local jails or the assistance of state officials in the arrest or return of such fugitives. In some cases, juries simply refused to convict
Jury nullification
Jury nullification occurs in a trial when a jury reaches a verdict contrary to the judge's instructions as to the law.A jury verdict contrary to the letter of the law pertains only to the particular case before it; however, if a pattern of acquittals develops in response to repeated attempts to...
individuals who had been indicted under the Federal law. Moreover, locals in some areas actively fought attempts to seize fugitives and return them to the South.
The Missouri State Supreme Court routinely held that transportation of slaves into free states automatically made them free. The U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
ruled, in Prigg v. Pennsylvania
Prigg v. Pennsylvania
Prigg v. Pennsylvania, , was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that the Federal Fugitive Slave Act precluded a Pennsylvania state law that gave procedural protections to suspected escaped slaves, and overturned the conviction of Edward Prigg as a result.-Federal Law:In June...
(1842), that states did not have to proffer aid in the hunting or recapture of slaves, greatly weakening the law of 1793.
In the response to the weakening of the original fugitive slave act, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made any Federal marshal
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
or other official who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave liable to a fine of $1,000. Law-enforcement officials everywhere now had a duty to arrest anyone suspected of being a runaway slave on no more evidence than a claimant's sworn testimony of ownership. The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf. In addition, any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was subject to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Officers who captured a fugitive slave were entitled to a fee for their work.
With this new law, many Northern citizens of the United States felt compromised in their views on slavery. Whereas the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
had previously supported fugitive slaves escape from Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
slaveholding
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
states to freedom in Northern
Northern United States
Northern United States, also sometimes the North, may refer to:* A particular grouping of states or regions of the United States of America. The United States Census Bureau divides some of the northernmost United States into the Midwest Region and the Northeast Region...
states, the Fugitive Slave Law left those who opposed slavery with the immediate choice of either defying what they believed was an unjust law, or breaking with their beliefs.
The case of escaped slave 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"...
fell under this statute. His arrest in Boston, and 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...
's decision to order him back into slavery in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, outraged Abolitionists and many ordinary Bostonians, who were increasingly hostile towards the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened...
. Abolitionist plans to free Burns from prison and spirit him to safety were frustrated when President Pierce
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
deployed federal artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and Marines to take Burns to the ship back to Virginia.
Activities
In response to the law, the Boston Vigilance Committee began advocating resistance to the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law through a variety of means. Members contributed funds to send fugitive slaves on to Canada, and for giving shelter and hiding to slaves making their way to Boston. When slaves were captured, the Committee paid for legal fees, and provided money which allowed escaped slaves to purchase necessities.http://www.primaryresearch.org/bh/vcrecords/fugitives.phpAdditionally the Committee also carried out more violent resistance. In 1851, members stormed Federal marshals and freed Shadrach Minkins
Shadrach Minkins
Shadrach Minkins was an African American fugitive slave. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he escaped from slavery in 1850 to settle in Boston, Massachusetts, where he became a waiter...
, a slave who escaped from Virginia, and who had been captured in Boston.http://www.masshist.org/longroad/01slavery/minkins.htm
Associates of the group included Francis Jackson
Francis Jackson (abolitionist)
Francis Jackson was an abolitionist in Boston, Massachusetts. He was affiliated with the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, the American Anti-Slavery Society and the Boston Vigilance Committee...
.
Further reading
- The Secret Six: The True Tale of the Men Who Conspired With John Brown, by Edward RenehanEdward RenehanEdward John Renehan, Jr. is a publisher, consultant and writer, and onetime professional musician. He made headlines in 2008 when he was convicted of document theft.-Biography:...
. (1997) (ISBN 1-57003-181-9) - The Secret Six: John Brown and the Abolitionist Movement, by Otto J. Scott. (1979) (ISBN 0-8129-0777-9)
- Massachusetts Historical Society: The Ordeal of Shadrach Minkins