1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 2: Hello and Welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 4 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:16,600 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,479 Speaker 2: Over the past several months, I have seen this quote 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 2: repeatedly on social media. Quote we went to bed one night, 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 2: old fashioned conservative compromise, union whigs and waked up stark 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 2: mad abolitionists. Some of that's because I follow historians on 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 2: social media, but it's mostly because this quote has been 10 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 2: really resonating with people in the face of what is 11 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:46,519 Speaker 2: happening with ICE in the United States. If you're not 12 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 2: up to speed on your US government acronyms, ICE is 13 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 2: Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Other federal agencies are also involved 14 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 2: with this, including border patrol, and this all rolls up 15 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:06,199 Speaker 2: under the Department of Homeland Security or DHS. This quote 16 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 2: is partly in response to the horror of what these 17 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 2: federal officers and agencies are doing, things like pepper sprang 18 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 2: people directly in the face when they are already on 19 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 2: the ground, detaining US citizens and legal residents, including pulling 20 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 2: them out of their homes into freezing weather still in 21 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 2: their pajamas, detaining preschoolers, deporting US citizens, including at least 22 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 2: two children who were in cancer treatment at the time. 23 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 2: An ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good and then 24 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 2: casually walked away. A Border patrol agent shot and killed 25 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 2: Alex Pretty. They shot him at least ten times while 26 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 2: he was already on the ground. In both of these cases. 27 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: Afterward, multiple federal. 28 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 2: Officials told transparently obvious lies about what happened. We are 29 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 2: recording this on January twenty seventh, twenty twenty sixth, then 30 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 2: who knows what else might happen before it comes out. 31 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 2: So that's been that those kinds of things have been 32 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 2: the kinds of things that I have seen people talk 33 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 2: about alongside this quote. But it's not just about ice. 34 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 2: Ice is only part of it. People are also sharing 35 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 2: this quote after seeing neighbors who had never seemed overtly 36 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 2: very political suddenly taking a stand in the face of 37 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 2: all of this, or going through that experience themselves, like 38 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 2: not being very political themselves, and they're suddenly like I 39 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 2: have to do something, or maybe not being local to 40 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 2: major ice operations, but seeing, for example, what feels like 41 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 2: the entire state of Minnesota all coming together to protect 42 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 2: each other in this massive effort to do things like 43 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 2: stand guard around daycares and schools, delivering food to families 44 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 2: who are terrified to leave their homes. So this quote 45 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 2: about becoming stark mad abbelatists. That's from a letter written 46 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 2: by Amos Adams Lawrence to Giles Richards on June first, 47 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 2: eighteen fifty four, during a furor over the fate of 48 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 2: Anthony Burns, who had liberated himself from enslavement in Virginia 49 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 2: and was captured in Boston and then returned to enslavement. 50 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 2: It would be reductive to suggest that what is happening 51 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 2: now is identical to what happened in eighteen fifty four, 52 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 2: or that this is like a one to one comparison. Also, 53 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 2: we like, we don't have to go all the way 54 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 2: back to slavery to find things that have similarities. We 55 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 2: don't even have to leave this century to do that. 56 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 2: But I do think Anthony Burns's story resonates right now 57 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 2: in much the same way that Amos Adams Lawrence quote does. 58 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 2: So we are going to talk about this over two episodes. 59 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: Anthony Burns was born in Stafford County, Virginia, on May 60 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: thirty first, eighteen thirty four. His mother was a cook. 61 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: Who was enslaved by John F. Scas Subtle. His father 62 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: was her third husband and was also enslaved, although there 63 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: were rumors that he had once been a freeman in 64 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: the North. Their names are not specified in accounts of 65 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: Anthony Burns's life, at least in no places that Tracy 66 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: could find them. The I did look and did not 67 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,720 Speaker 1: find what their names were. Anthony's father was seen as 68 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: particularly intelligent. He supervised other enslaved people at a quarry 69 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: that Subtle owned. Anthony didn't know his father very well, though, 70 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: because he died when Anthony was still very young, apparently 71 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: as a result of continually breathing in the stone dust 72 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: at the quarry. Slavery in the United States was hereditary. 73 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,119 Speaker 1: Since Anthony's mother was enslaved, he was enslaved from birth 74 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: as well. So were his twelve older siblings and half siblings, 75 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: and after John Suttle died, his widow, Susannah Suttle, started 76 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: selling them off to try to cover her expenses. She 77 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: sold at least five of Anthony's immediate family members when 78 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: he was still very young. Susannah Suttle also threatened to 79 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: sell Anthony's mother, but instead hired her out to work 80 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: in another city, so Anthony's mother was still considered Subtle's property, 81 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: but somebody else was paying Subtle for her labor. Anthony's 82 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: mother begged to take him with her when she was 83 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: sent away for work, but Subtle refused and they were 84 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: separated for two years. Susannah Suttle died when Anthony was 85 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: about six years old, and her son, Charles F. Suttle, 86 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: inherited the estate. By that point, Anthony had been put 87 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: to work on things that were considered light tasks, which 88 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 1: included watching his baby niece so that his older sister 89 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: could work. About a year after inheriting the property, Charles 90 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: Suttle started hiring Anthony out so that he could bring 91 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: in more income as well. Over the next decade, Anthony 92 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: learned to read. That started when he was hired out 93 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: to somebody whose sister named Miss Horton ran a school 94 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: out of her home nearby. Anthony started making friends with 95 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: some of the students as he went about his work 96 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: and ran errands that took him over there, and some 97 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: of them shared their school books with him. Later on, 98 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: he was hired out to another man whose wife ran 99 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: a school from their house, and she seemed like she 100 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: left books around for him to find on purpose. As 101 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: Anthony got a little older, he also taught himself how 102 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: to write. He said he was inspired to do this 103 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: after being tasked with picking up the mail from the 104 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: post office and realizing he could learn to write letters 105 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: of his own. He started out by copying things onto 106 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: scraps of paper that he found. Eventually he showed this 107 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: work to a young woman he had met when they 108 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: were both children when she was a student at Miss 109 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,280 Speaker 1: Horton's school, and then she helped him to improve his handwriting. 110 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: When Anthony was twelve or thirteen, he was hired out 111 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: to tend a steam engine that belonged to him. Man 112 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: named Foot Foot ran a sawmill. This was one of 113 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,559 Speaker 1: the more difficult times than Anthony's early life. It wasn't 114 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: a kind of work he had ever done before. He 115 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: wasn't used to it, and then the Foots were also 116 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: particularly cruel. They beat people, including young children, using a 117 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: strip of board that had been perforated and roughened with 118 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: tar and sand. They also did not give them very 119 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: much to eat. One day, when Anthony had been there 120 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: for a few months, Foot started the machinery without warning 121 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: and Anthony's hand was caught in a wheel and it 122 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: was mangled. This was a very serious injury and he 123 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: went back to live with Subtle for a couple of 124 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: months until he recovered, and then he was returned to 125 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: the sawmill. His hand was noticeably scarred after this, with 126 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: what was described as a visibly protruding piece of bone 127 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: in his wrist. While he was recovering from this injury, 128 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: Anthony had a religious awakening. He asked Suttle's permission to 129 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: be baptized and to join a church. At first, Subtle refused, 130 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: which Anthony attributed to his being irritated about the injury 131 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: to his hand, but eventually, after Anthony had gone back 132 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: to work for Foot, Subtle gave his permission. Anthony was 133 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: baptized at a Baptist church in Foulmouth. A couple of 134 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: years later, Anthony started preaching to other enslaved people, and 135 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: this included sermons and teaching about the Bible, as well 136 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: as conducting marriage and funeral services. These marriages, of course, 137 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: were not legally recognized, even if he had been formally 138 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,199 Speaker 1: ordained through a church. There was no legal recognition of 139 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: marriage between enslaved people. When Charles Suttle started essentially leasing 140 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: Anthony to other people. Anthony was still a child, so 141 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: people weren't paying very much for him to do things 142 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: like run errands or make weekly trips to pick up 143 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: corn meal, but the amount Subtle could charge grew over time. 144 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: His foot had agreed to pay Settle seventy five dollars 145 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: a year for the work at the sawmill, for example. Eventually, 146 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: Subtle hired a man named William Brent to manage the 147 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: placement of the people he was hiring out. Anthony had 148 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: worked for Brent before, and he was tasked with supervising 149 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: other enslaved people as they traveled to Richmond for their placements. 150 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: At first, Anthony worked for Brent's brother in law, and 151 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: after about a year in Richmond, when he was about twenty, 152 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: he was placed with a druggist named Millspaw at a 153 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: rate of one hundred and twenty five dollars a year. 154 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: It did not take long for Millspaugh to realize he 155 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: didn't have enough work for Anthony Burns to do, and 156 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: he did not think it would be financially worth it 157 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: to keep him on, So after about a week, Millspaw 158 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: took Burns aside and proposed a different arrangement. Burns would 159 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: be allowed to go out and look for work on 160 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: his own. He would use the money that he earned 161 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: to repay Millspaw one hundred and twenty five dollars that 162 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: he was paying for Burns's labor, and then Burns could 163 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: keep what he earned beyond that, minus a portion that 164 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,679 Speaker 1: would go to Millspaw. Millspaugh told Burns that this arrangement 165 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: was illegal and had to be kept secret. By this point, 166 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: Burns had started forming a plan to liberate himself from enslavement, 167 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,679 Speaker 1: which had influenced some of the choices that he had 168 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 1: made prior to being hired out to Millspaw. For example, 169 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: after his first two years of working for William Brent 170 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 1: in Falmouth, Burns had asked to be placed somewhere else. 171 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: Even though he and Brent got along and Brent's wife 172 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: was kind to him, Burns thought the longer he stayed 173 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: in one place, the more people would get to know him, 174 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: and the harder it would be for him to get 175 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:46,679 Speaker 1: away unnoticed. Suttle, who of course did not know Burns's 176 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: reasoning for this request, had agreed this wasn't the only 177 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: time Burns spoke up for himself with Subtle, and whether 178 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 1: Suttle was willing to do what he asked seemed to 179 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 1: depend on whether he thought it would make Anthony more 180 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:03,199 Speaker 1: willing and obedient in the long run. Burns also negotiated 181 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: with Millspaw over this work arrangement. Millspaugh wanted him to 182 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:11,200 Speaker 1: deliver the money that he earned every day, but Burns 183 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: thought this would be inconvenient, maybe even impossible. There might 184 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: be days when he couldn't find work and had no 185 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: money to turn over. So Burns convinced Millspaugh to let 186 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: him hand over his money every two weeks. This fortnightly 187 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: money delivery would also help Burns with his plan to 188 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: liberate himself from enslavement, which we will get to after 189 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: we pause for a sponsor break. Unlike other places Anthony 190 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: Burns had lived, Richmond, Virginia was a major port. In 191 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,439 Speaker 1: the words of Charles Emory Stevens, who published a biography 192 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,360 Speaker 1: of Burns in eighteen fifty six, quote, he was in 193 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: daily sight of those northern keels that seemed to him 194 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: a part of the very soil of freedom. He was 195 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: in daily converse with men whose birthright was in a 196 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:09,200 Speaker 1: free land, and whose language to the slave had no 197 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: smack of the whip. Kind hearted sailors, having no vessels 198 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 1: to forfeit and no trade to compromise, did not hesitate 199 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: to urge him. 200 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,560 Speaker 2: On to flight. Plainly, the tide was at hand when, 201 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 2: if ever, he was to achieve his freedom. At the 202 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 2: same time, Burns had some potential reasons to stay. He 203 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,079 Speaker 2: had set up a secret school to teach enslaved people 204 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 2: how to read, like his work arrangement with Millspa. This 205 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,199 Speaker 2: was illegal, but leaving would mean that he was leaving 206 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 2: his students. He had also been preaching for years, and 207 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 2: he wrestled with the question of whether it was morally 208 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 2: right to escape. Supporters of slavery used passages from the 209 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:58,120 Speaker 2: Bible to justify its existence, but beyond that, slavery was 210 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 2: fully legal under the law and escaping was not. After 211 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 2: thinking about it and studying the Bible again, in the 212 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 2: words of Charles Emery Stevens quote, he found that the 213 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 2: Bible set forth only one God for the black and 214 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,960 Speaker 2: white races, that he had made of one blood all 215 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 2: the nations of the earth, that there was no divine 216 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 2: ordinance requiring one part of the human family to be 217 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 2: in bondage to another, and that there was no passage 218 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 2: of holy writ by virtue of which Colonel Suttle could 219 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 2: claim a right of property in him any more than 220 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 2: he could in Colonel Suttle. 221 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: According to his biography, Burns had also fallen in love 222 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: with a woman, and it is possible that he was 223 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: trying to figure out how he could take her with him. 224 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: But when he handed over his earnings after his first 225 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: fortnight of finding his own work, he hit an unexpected snag. 226 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: As we said earlier, he was supposed to repay the 227 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty five dollars that Millspaw was paying 228 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: for a year of his labor. But if you must 229 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: applied that first two weeks of earnings over a whole year, 230 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,400 Speaker 1: he was on track to earn almost three times that. 231 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: Millspaugh realized he could recoup his expenses much faster than 232 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: he thought, and he again told Burns to bring him 233 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: the money he had earned every day, and to earn 234 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 1: that one hundred and twenty five dollars as fast as possible. 235 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: Burns did not want to do either of those things. 236 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: He wanted to be able to keep some of what 237 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: he earned as long as he was not jeopardizing being 238 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 1: able to pay back that one hundred and twenty five 239 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: dollars I say payback. 240 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 2: He wasn't paying it back. This was money that someone 241 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 2: else wanted from him. He had not taken out a 242 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 2: loan or something like that. And as although he was 243 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 2: living in Millspaugh's house, in a room that he shared 244 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 2: with another border, it was feasible that he and Millspaugh 245 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 2: might not see each. 246 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: Other every day. 247 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 2: If Burns was leaving early to find work and then 248 00:14:55,800 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 2: getting back late, that meant that his absence might not 249 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 2: be he noticed right away if he left, and that 250 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,160 Speaker 2: would not be the case if he was required to 251 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 2: physically meet with Millspaw every day to hand him his money. 252 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 2: Burns and Millspaw negotiated over this for a while, and 253 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 2: Burns finally left the room without agreeing to this daily schedule. 254 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: During his time in Richmond, Burns had met sailors and 255 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: other workers from around the port, and during the two 256 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: weeks he had been working on his own, he had 257 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:32,280 Speaker 1: mostly worked around the docks, loading and unloading cargo. He 258 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 1: had figured out who seemed sympathetic and who did not so. 259 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: Over the next couple of days, he found a ship 260 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: headed north that was getting ready to set sail and 261 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: had crew members who were willing to hide him. He 262 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: did not hand his money over to Millspaw, and he 263 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: used it instead to make arrangements, pay expenses, and provision himself. 264 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: This did mean, though, that he was not able to 265 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: take the woman that he had fallen in love with. 266 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, they're just one. Not time to make those kinds 267 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 2: of arrangements, since he had to tighten up his schedule 268 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 2: to make his escape. One night in February of eighteen 269 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 2: fifty four, three days or so after his conversation with Millspaw, 270 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 2: Burns put on four layers of clothing, with his work 271 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 2: clothes as the outermost layer, and he got into bed 272 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 2: in the very early hours of the morning. He gathered 273 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 2: up his possessions in a bundle, and he slipped out 274 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 2: of the room and out of the house without waking 275 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 2: up the other border or Millspaw. He got to the 276 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 2: dock and the crew for the ship hit him on board. 277 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 2: The ship was delayed leaving port, and it did not 278 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 2: set sail that day as expected. Burns eventually fell asleep 279 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 2: when he awoke, they were sailing down the James River 280 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 2: toward the ocean. 281 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: This voyage was miserable. 282 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 2: The ship's captain and officers did not know he was aboard, 283 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 2: and it needed to stay that way. That meant that 284 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 2: he could not leave his hiding spot. Bad weather and 285 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 2: unfavorable winds meant that the journey was a lot longer 286 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 2: and rougher than normal. He felt seasick a lot of 287 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,439 Speaker 2: the time. He had to rely on the crew to 288 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 2: sneak food to him, and when they managed to do that, 289 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 2: it did not always line up with whether he was 290 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:17,680 Speaker 2: feeling well enough to actually eat it because of how 291 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,439 Speaker 2: seasick he was. But at the end of February or 292 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,400 Speaker 2: the start of March eighteen fifty four, Burns arrived in Boston. 293 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,159 Speaker 2: He found a room in a boarding house and he 294 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 2: recovered from the journey, and that recovery took about a week. 295 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,119 Speaker 2: Then he found work as a cook on a mud 296 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:36,880 Speaker 2: scal That was a barge, and the term was used 297 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,640 Speaker 2: both for barges that could travel over mudflats and barges 298 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 2: that carried the mud that was hauled up by dredgers. 299 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 2: This job did not last long, though he didn't really 300 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 2: have any experience as a cook, and for whatever reason, 301 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,159 Speaker 2: he could not get the bread to rise. Listen, I 302 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 2: feel you even people that cook a lot can't always 303 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 2: get their bread to rise. So he was fired though 304 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 2: after about a week. As we've talked about been a 305 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 2: number of previous episodes. Now, Boston had about two thousand 306 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 2: black residents in the eighteen fifties. Some had been born 307 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 2: free to black parents and some had been legally manumitted, 308 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 2: but those who had liberated themselves from slavery, like Burns, 309 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,360 Speaker 2: were all considered to be fugitives. After he was fired 310 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,880 Speaker 2: from his position on the Mudscow, Burns was hired by 311 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 2: a black merchant named Coffin Pitts, who had a shop 312 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:33,399 Speaker 2: on Brattle Street. This street is not there anymore, but 313 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:35,399 Speaker 2: at the time it was home to a number of 314 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:40,199 Speaker 2: black owned businesses. It was also home to Brattle Street Church, 315 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,119 Speaker 2: which had been struck by cannon fire in the Siege 316 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:46,239 Speaker 2: of Boston during the Revolutionary War, and it still had 317 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 2: a cannon ball lodged in the facade. In addition to 318 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 2: owning this shop, Pitts was an abolitionist, and he was 319 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 2: a deacon at twelfth Baptist Church. This church was nicknamed 320 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:00,880 Speaker 2: the Fugitive Slaves Church, both because the number of self 321 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 2: emancipated people among its membership and because of its organizing 322 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,679 Speaker 2: against a Fugitive Slave Act of eighteen fifty, which we 323 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 2: are going to talk more about in a bit. Burns 324 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 2: attended this church as well. Over the next couple of months, 325 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 2: Burns started building a life for himself in Boston. He 326 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 2: wrote a letter to his brother back in Virginia, telling 327 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 2: him where he was and about his job. He did 328 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,679 Speaker 2: not mail this letter directly to his brother, though, he 329 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 2: sent it to somebody in Canada so it could be 330 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 2: postmarked from there. But when the letter arrived in Virginia, 331 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,879 Speaker 2: the postmaster saw the Canadian postmark and the fact that 332 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 2: it was addressed to a slave, so he delivered it 333 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 2: to Burns's brothers Enslaver, to read it, and then informed 334 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:53,080 Speaker 2: either Charles Sutton or William Brent of its contents. Sutton 335 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 2: started the legal process for having his property returned to him. 336 00:19:57,720 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: We'll get to that after a sponsor break. 337 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:15,120 Speaker 2: Article four, Section two, clause three of the US Constitution reads, quote, 338 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 2: no person held to service or labor in one state 339 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 2: under the laws thereof escaping into another, shall, in consequence 340 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 2: of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such 341 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 2: service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim 342 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 2: of the party to whom such service or labor maybe do. 343 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 2: Although that doesn't have the word slavery in it, that 344 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 2: is known as the fugitive slave clause. Today, this has 345 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 2: been superseded by the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which 346 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 2: abolished slavery except in punishment for a crime, but the 347 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 2: text itself is still part of the document. The Fugitive 348 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 2: Slave Act of seventeen ninety three, which was signed into 349 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 2: law by George Washington, was written to legally enforce this 350 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 2: clause of the Constitution. Under this law, the process of 351 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:08,120 Speaker 2: reclaiming a fugitive started with an indictment or an affidavit 352 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 2: made before a magistrate. Authorities were then required to capture 353 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 2: and return people who had escaped from slavery, including if 354 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:20,720 Speaker 2: they had escaped to other states or territories. Anyone who 355 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:24,600 Speaker 2: harbored someone who had escaped, or obstructed this process, or 356 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 2: rescued people as they were being transported could be fined 357 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:31,439 Speaker 2: up to five hundred dollars or imprisoned. 358 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: For a year. 359 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:36,120 Speaker 2: The Fugitive Slave Act of eighteen fifty revised the seventeen 360 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 2: ninety three Act and was signed into law by President 361 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 2: Millard Fillmore. This is part of a series of bills 362 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 2: that are collectively described as the Compromise of eighteen fifty. 363 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 2: We've talked about this a number of times on the 364 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 2: podcast before, including fairly recently in our Charles Sumner episodes, 365 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 2: but it is a central part of what happened to 366 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 2: Anthony Burns, so we're going to go through it again. 367 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 2: When the US Constitution was ratified in seventeen eighty nine, 368 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 2: it left the question of whether to allow slavery up 369 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 2: to the states. By the start of the nineteenth century, 370 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 2: slavery had been abolished in most of the northern states 371 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 2: and territories, but not in the Southern states. The slave 372 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,160 Speaker 2: states outnumbered the free states, which meant slave states had 373 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 2: slightly more power in the Senate, where each state gets 374 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 2: two senators regardless of the size of that state's population. 375 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 2: As new states were admitted, the United States took steps 376 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 2: to maintain a balance between the slave states and the 377 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,880 Speaker 2: free states. States were generally admitted in pairs one slave 378 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 2: and one free. In eighteen twenty, the question of whether 379 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 2: Missouri should be admitted as a slave state led to 380 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:51,199 Speaker 2: the Missouri Compromise, in which Missouri was admitted as a 381 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 2: slave state. Maine was created as a free state from 382 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 2: what had been part of Massachusetts, and the Missouri Compromise 383 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 2: also drew up boundary line through Louisiana Territory, with slavery 384 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 2: outlawed in territories and newly created states north of that 385 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,159 Speaker 2: line but legal south of it. 386 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: Thirty years later, the Compromise of eighteen fifty came after 387 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: California requested to join the Union as a free state 388 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 1: and there was no slave state ready to be admitted 389 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 1: to keep the balance in the Senate. Slave states were 390 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:27,400 Speaker 1: also losing power in the House of Representatives as more 391 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,720 Speaker 1: people moved to northern cities. This set of five laws 392 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: included one that admitted California as a free state, one 393 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,920 Speaker 1: that abolished the slave trade in Washington, d c. And 394 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: the Fugitive Slave Act of eighteen fifty, more formally titled 395 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:47,200 Speaker 1: an Act Respecting Fugitives from Justice and Persons Escaping from 396 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:48,919 Speaker 1: the service of their Masters. 397 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 2: This law was meant to help appease the slave states 398 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 2: that were losing power in the Senate through the admission 399 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 2: of California to the Union. It did not includ the 400 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 2: words slavery, and the actual text it said, if someone 401 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 2: quote held to service or labor escaped to another state 402 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 2: or territory, the quote person or persons to whom such 403 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 2: service or labor may be do, or his her or 404 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:21,200 Speaker 2: their agent or attorney duly authorized could pursue and reclaim 405 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 2: quote such fugitive person. 406 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 1: Doing so required them to procure a warrant from the courts, judges, 407 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 1: or commissioners of the state or territory the person fled to. 408 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,119 Speaker 1: If a commissioner was overseeing these proceedings, he would be 409 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:39,639 Speaker 1: paid for his services. If the commissioner found that the 410 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: proof provided was sufficient to issue the warrant, he would 411 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: be paid ten dollars. If he found that the proof 412 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: was not sufficient to provide the warrant, he would be 413 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 1: paid five dollars. In other words, it was in the 414 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:56,639 Speaker 1: financial interests of the commissioners to find in favor of 415 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: the person who was claiming that another person was their property. 416 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: The people who were empowered to arrest the fugitives were 417 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 1: also paid five dollars for each person they arrested. 418 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,399 Speaker 2: This law also increased the monetary penalties that had been 419 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:16,160 Speaker 2: established under the previous fugitive slave law, and it established 420 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 2: new ones. Marshals or deputy marshals who refused to execute 421 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,960 Speaker 2: these warrants could be fined one thousand dollars. Anyone who 422 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,439 Speaker 2: obstructed the process or harbored someone who had escaped or 423 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 2: rescued them, or aided them in any way directly or 424 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 2: indirectly could be fined up to one thousand dollars and 425 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 2: imprisoned for up to six months. They could also have 426 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 2: to pay civil damages to quote the party injured by 427 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,920 Speaker 2: such illegal conduct, up to one thousand dollars for each fugitive. 428 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 1: This was a stronger law with harsher penalties than the 429 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:57,680 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety three version. The proceedings involved were basically administrative hearings, 430 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 1: not trials. It was explicitly illegal for the testimony of 431 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: a so called fugitive to be entered into evidence. 432 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 2: This law put all black people in the United States 433 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 2: at risk, regardless of whether they were or ever had 434 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,199 Speaker 2: been enslaved. After it was passed, black people in the 435 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 2: Northern States started emigrating from the United States, primarily to 436 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 2: Canada to try to protect themselves. An estimated five thousand 437 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 2: black people fled from the Free States to Canada after 438 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 2: this law was passed. We have already talked about several 439 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 2: things Anthony Burns had done or been involved with during 440 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 2: his lifetime that were considered illegal. It was illegal for 441 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 2: white people in Virginia to teach black people to read 442 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 2: and write. Also, in the words of the eighteen forty 443 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:51,200 Speaker 2: nine Legal Code of Virginia, quote every assemblage of Negroes 444 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 2: for the purpose of religious worship, when such worship is 445 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,879 Speaker 2: conducted by a Negro, And every assemblage of Negroes for 446 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 2: the purposes of instruction in reading or writing, or in 447 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 2: the night time for any purpose, shall be an unlawful assembly. 448 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,439 Speaker 2: So Burns's work as a preacher and the secret school 449 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 2: he established were both illegal. As we said earlier, His 450 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 2: arrangement with Millspa to earn his own money also illegal. 451 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,360 Speaker 2: It was also illegal for Anthony Burns to leave Virginia 452 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,399 Speaker 2: without his enslaver's knowledge or approval. It was illegal for 453 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 2: him to escape to Massachusetts. It was illegal for the 454 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 2: sailors aboard the ship to hide him there and to 455 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 2: bring him food. It was illegal for the ship's captain 456 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 2: and officers to transport him, even though they did not 457 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,399 Speaker 2: know he was a board It was illegal for the 458 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,400 Speaker 2: boarding house owner in Boston to rent him a room. 459 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,400 Speaker 2: It was illegal for the mudscow captain to hire him 460 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,240 Speaker 2: as a cook. It was illegal for coffin Pits to 461 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,159 Speaker 2: give him a job and a place to live. It 462 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 2: was illegal for the congregation of twelfth Baptist Church to 463 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 2: welcome him into their number and to offer him aid 464 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,280 Speaker 2: and comfort. After learning about the letter Birds had written 465 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 2: to his brother that revealed that he had gone to Boston, 466 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,479 Speaker 2: Charles Suttle went to the authorities in the State Circuit 467 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:11,440 Speaker 2: Court for Alexandria County, Virginia. On May sixteenth, eighteen fifty four, 468 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,399 Speaker 2: the court determined that he had provided satisfactory proof that 469 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 2: Burns owed subtle his service. Suttle and William Brent both 470 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:24,000 Speaker 2: traveled to Boston to pursue him. On May twenty fourth, 471 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 2: in Boston, United States Commissioner Edward G. Loring issued a 472 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:34,199 Speaker 2: warrant for Burns's arrest. Watson Freeman, United States Marshal of Massachusetts, 473 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 2: was empowered with arresting Burns, but the actual arrest was 474 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 2: carried out by slave catcher Asa O. Buttman, who had 475 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 2: been deputized. Buttman arrested Burns that evening. Buttman had been 476 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 2: in coffin Pitts's store that day, but he hadn't aroused 477 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 2: their suspicions. Burns and Pitts usually walked to and from 478 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,200 Speaker 2: work together, but that night Burns decided to take a 479 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 2: brief walk first. Once the two men had separated, Buttman 480 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 2: confronted Burns. At first, Burns thought he was being mugged, 481 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 2: but then Buttman said he was being charged with robbing 482 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 2: a jewelry store. Burns knew that he had not robbed anyone, 483 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 2: and he thought this was just some kind of mistake, 484 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 2: so he willingly went with Buttman. He didn't even call 485 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 2: out the Pits, who was still within earshot, about what 486 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 2: was happening. Even though Burns was not trying to resist arrest, 487 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 2: six or seven other men who had been waiting nearby 488 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,960 Speaker 2: rushed out, and they grabbed him, lifting him up off 489 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 2: of his feet and carrying him to the courthouse. 490 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: Once they arrived, they were met by Marshall Freeman. Freeman 491 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: told Burns he was being taken upstairs to the jury 492 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: room to meet his accuser. And Burns again went willingly, 493 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: only to find that there was no accuser in that room, 494 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 1: because there was no such person. It was at that 495 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: point that he realized what had to be happening, That 496 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: he had been captured as a fugitive slave. In the 497 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: words of his biographer, Charles Emery Stevens quote as in 498 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 1: a dissolving view, the land of freedom faded out and 499 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: the dark land of slavery usurped its place. He saw 500 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:18,920 Speaker 1: himself again a slave far worse than that, a slave, disgraced, 501 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: pointed at as a runaway, punished, perhaps punished unto death. 502 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: Overpowered by the prospect, he and his own simple but 503 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 1: expressive phrase, gave all up. We are going to talk 504 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:38,400 Speaker 1: about what happened next next time. But right now, Tracy, 505 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: do you have listener mail for us? I do have 506 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 1: listener mail for us. This listener mail is actually from 507 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: an old friend of the podcast who we have not 508 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: seen in many years, Jess, who works for the National 509 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 1: Park Service and who we worked with when we did 510 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: a live show at Adams National Historic Park some years ago. 511 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: Jess wrote and said, Hi, Holly and Tracy, your friendly 512 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: Massachusetts park ranger here one of two, one of my 513 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:11,720 Speaker 1: colleagues was able to brag to me that you read 514 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 1: her letter on the show. I've made it up to 515 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 1: September twenty twenty four in the podcast The forty three 516 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: government shut down put me behind, but I will catch 517 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 1: up and just listened to the episode on Ettienkeabe and 518 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:28,840 Speaker 1: Ikaria Boy. I was not expecting Navu, Illinois to make 519 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: an appearance. Your episode talks about Navu being the headquarters 520 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:35,640 Speaker 1: of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. 521 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 1: There is an Adams National Historic Park connection. In eighteen 522 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,520 Speaker 1: forty four, Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy Adams, 523 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,280 Speaker 1: visited Navu. He and his cousin were traveling and wanted 524 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 1: to check it out. They met with Joseph Smith and 525 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 1: were given a tour of the city by Smith. Before 526 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 1: he left, Smith gifted Charles Francis Adams assigned copy of 527 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 1: the Book of Mormon. Just six weeks later and his 528 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:05,080 Speaker 1: brother were murdered. Rangers would casually mention this on a tour, 529 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: and news of the book made its way back to 530 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,840 Speaker 1: a historian of Latter day Saints. History. 531 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,880 Speaker 2: Turns out this book was Emma Smith's personal copy, which 532 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 2: had been listed as missing. Not only that, it's one of, 533 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 2: if I recall correctly, from a few years ago, only 534 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 2: three known existing signatures of Joseph Smith that still survives 535 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 2: until today. This ended up being one of my favorite 536 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 2: objects in the collection at Adam's National Historic Park. It's 537 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,480 Speaker 2: amazing how far and wide the interests and reach of 538 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 2: this family was. Again, thanks for all you do and 539 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,160 Speaker 2: making my ninety minute commute feel shorter. Jess ps pet 540 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 2: Tax attempting to get Miss summer Ray to look at 541 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:48,520 Speaker 2: the camera for a Christmas photo. We have a kind 542 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 2: of shaggyish brown puppy dog looking very very cute in 543 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 2: front of a Christmas tree with the trees. 544 00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 1: All lit up. Thank you so much. 545 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 2: Jess just has written us a few times since we 546 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 2: did that live show. Did we do two live shows 547 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:08,480 Speaker 2: at Adam's Nationalist Doric Park or did the second one 548 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 2: get canceled because of COVID? I don't remember, all bored together. Yeah, 549 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:19,040 Speaker 2: but we did for sure do a live show there 550 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,440 Speaker 2: that we really enjoyed, and we enjoyed meeting all the 551 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:23,240 Speaker 2: folks who. 552 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:24,840 Speaker 1: Worked there and working with them. 553 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,720 Speaker 2: And I always love hearing from folks at the National 554 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,600 Speaker 2: Park Service, especially folks who have been able to weather 555 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 2: everything that has gone on with the National Park Service, 556 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 2: and honestly folks who didn't. We have also heard from 557 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 2: some folks who lost their jobs and the various waves 558 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:47,640 Speaker 2: of reductions in force with the Park Service and other 559 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,880 Speaker 2: government agencies. So thank you so much for this email. 560 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 2: It was such a cute picture and about this copy 561 00:33:56,880 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 2: of the Book of Mormon. I had not heard that 562 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 2: story at all, and it is super interesting. So if 563 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:04,840 Speaker 2: you would like to send us a note, we're a 564 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 2: history podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. Also, we publish source 565 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 2: lists for all of our episodes. You can find them 566 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,359 Speaker 2: on our website at Mistonhistory dot com, and you can 567 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,560 Speaker 2: subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app and anywhere 568 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 2: else you like to get your podcasts. Stuffy Miston History 569 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 2: Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 570 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,680 Speaker 2: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 571 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:36,760 Speaker 2: to your favorite shows.