Boston Vigilance Committee facts for kids
The Boston Vigilance Committee was an important group in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1841 to 1861. Its main goal was to protect enslaved people who had escaped from being captured and sent back to the South. This group helped hundreds of escapees. Most of them arrived hidden on ships and stayed only a short time before moving on to Canada or England.
The Committee worked with people who donated money and with Underground Railroad conductors. They provided money, safe places to stay, medical help, and legal advice. They also helped with transportation and sometimes even gave weapons. Members watched out for slave catchers and warned everyone when they came to town. Some members even took part in risky rescue missions.
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History of the Committee
Starting the Group (1841)
The Boston Vigilance Committee began on June 4, 1841. Charles Turner Torrey and others called for a public meeting to start the group. The first meeting included both white and Black citizens, people from different religions, and members of other anti-slavery groups.
They created a set of rules that night. The first rule said the group's purpose was to "secure to persons of color the enjoyment of their constitutional and legal rights." It also stated they would use only "legal, peaceful, and Christian methods."
In 1842, a court ruling made it harder for the Committee to help escaped slaves without breaking the law. Because of this, some Black Bostonians formed a new group called the New England Freedom Association. This group was willing to act outside the law. Eventually, the New England Freedom Association joined with the Boston Vigilance Committee.
Reorganizing in 1850
On September 18, 1850, a new law called the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed. This law forced free states to help catch and return escaped slaves. On October 4, the Boston Vigilance Committee held a big meeting in Faneuil Hall to decide how to respond. Famous abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and Theodore Parker spoke to a huge crowd. Many new members joined the Committee at this time.
The Committee had over 200 members and included both Black and white people. Many wealthy members gave money. Others, like Lewis Hayden, helped directly. Hayden helped rescue Shadrach Minkins from federal custody in 1851. John Swett Rock was the Committee's medical officer. Austin Bearse, a ship captain, secretly brought escaped slaves into and out of Boston. Lawyers like Richard Henry Dana Jr. and Samuel Edmund Sewall defended escaped slaves in court.
Even though the Committee was mixed-race, it had only a few Black members. White members often preferred to offer legal and financial help. Black Bostonians usually did most of the hands-on rescue work. They had more to lose and were more willing to use force.
The Committee's treasurer kept detailed records from 1850 to 1861. These records show payments for things like boarding escaped slaves. Helping escaped slaves was very risky at the time. It could lead to jail time and large fines.
Ellen and William Craft
In 1848, Ellen and William Craft escaped slavery in Georgia. Their brave escape became well-known, which made them targets for slave catchers. In 1850, they were living in Boston. After the new Fugitive Slave Act passed, warrants were issued for their arrest.
Two slave catchers from Georgia came to Boston. William sent Ellen to hide, while he stayed with Lewis Hayden. Other Committee members worked to bother the slave catchers. They put up posters describing the men. Lawyers had the slave catchers arrested many times for small reasons. Each time, people who supported slavery paid their bail.
The Crafts stayed hidden in Boston for several weeks. They moved to different safe houses before escaping to England in January.
Shadrach Minkins
In 1850, Shadrach Minkins escaped slavery in Virginia and came to Boston. He worked as a waiter. In February 1851, federal officers arrested him at work. They took him to the federal courthouse in Boston.
The Boston Vigilance Committee hired a team of lawyers to defend Minkins. They also put up posters warning people about slave catchers. Many protesters gathered outside the courthouse, demanding Minkins' release.
On February 15, 1851, a group of about 20 Black activists, led by Lewis Hayden, stormed the courthouse. They freed Minkins by force. Minkins was quickly taken away in a wagon and hidden. With help from the Underground Railroad, he eventually reached Canada.
Several Committee members were arrested for helping in the rescue. The Committee hired lawyers to defend them, and all were found not guilty.
Thomas Sims
Thomas Sims had escaped slavery in Georgia and was living in Boston. In 1851, federal officers seized him. The Committee hired lawyer John Albion Andrew to help him. Sims was locked in a room on the third floor of the federal courthouse. Committee members planned to help him escape by jumping from the window onto mattresses below. However, the sheriff put bars on the window before they could act.
The federal government sent U.S. Marines to march Sims through the streets of Boston. He was put on a warship and sent back to Georgia. Sims was sold to a new slaveholder. But he escaped again in 1863 and returned to Boston.
Anthony Burns
In 1853, Anthony Burns escaped slavery in Virginia and settled in Boston. He found work in a clothing shop. In May 1854, he was arrested and imprisoned in the courthouse. Lawyers from the Vigilance Committee tried to defend him, but they were not successful. Wendell Phillips and Theodore Parker offered money to buy Burns's freedom, but the offer was refused.
That night, a crowd led by Reverend Thomas Wentworth Higginson attacked the courthouse with axes. They broke down a door and went upstairs. But armed guards stopped them. During the struggle, a police officer was killed. When soldiers arrived, the crowd scattered, and Burns remained trapped.
When it was time to send Burns back to Virginia, Bostonians protested in the streets. The Vigilance Committee paid for "alarm banners" and "alarm bells" for the protest. They also handed out many anti-slavery flyers. They started a petition to remove Judge Edward G. Loring, who had ordered Burns's return. Loring was later removed from his job.
Weeks later, Higginson, Phillips, and Parker faced charges for encouraging a riot. The Committee hired lawyers to defend them, and the charges were dropped. Reverend Leonard Grimes and other abolitionists raised money to buy Burns's freedom, and he returned to Massachusetts.
Ending the Committee
The Boston Vigilance Committee stopped operating in April 1861. This was about ten years and seven months after the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was passed.
Notable Members
A longer list can be found in Austin Bearse's 1880 book, Reminiscences of Fugitive-Slave Law Days in Boston.
- Amos Bronson Alcott
- John A. Andrew
- Edward Atkinson
- John Augustus
- Austin Bearse
- John A. Bolles
- John Botume Jr.
- Henry Ingersoll Bowditch
- William Ingersoll Bowditch
- Anson Burlingame
- Thomas Carew
- William Henry Channing
- John P. Coburn
- Nathaniel Colver
- Richard Henry Dana Jr.
- William Lloyd Garrison
- Timothy Gilbert
- Daniel W. Gooch
- Lewis Hayden
- Thomas Wentworth Higginson
- Richard Hildreth
- John T. Hilton
- Charles F. Hovey
- Samuel Gridley Howe
- Timothy W. Hoxie
- Francis Jackson
- William Jackson
- John P. Jewett
- Joel W. Lewis
- Ellis Gray Loring
- James Russell Lowell
- Bela Marsh
- Samuel May, Jr.
- Robert Morris
- William Cooper Nell
- Theodore Parker
- Wendell Phillips
- Henry Prentiss
- Edmund Quincy
- John Swett Rock
- Samuel E. Sewall
- Joshua Bowen Smith
- Isaac H. Snowden
- John Murray Spear
- Lysander Spooner
- Charles Turner Torrey
- Mark Trafton
- Elizur Wright
See also
