INTRODUCTION

Background:
You will visit several websites, which will furnish background material on the Underground Railroad, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and the Anthony Burns case.

Maps:
a. Compromise of 1850, September 6, 1850, vote on passage of Texas-New Mexico provisions
b. Map of the Southern States, showing the relative proportion of slaves in the different localities

Introduction:
The main focus of the lesson will be the escape, capture, and trial in Boston of Anthony Burns of Virginia.

Imagine you are a resident of Boston in 1854. The capture and trial of Anthony Burns triggered violence in the city. Why? Did the Federal government have the right to return Anthony Burns to slavery? You, as a citizen of Boston, must decide where you would stand on the issue of the fugitive slave law. Do you side with federal officials that, at any cost, will return Burns to slavery? Do you side with the abolitionists in Boston and support civil disobedience? What do you think? 

Image from: Boston Public Library