Topic: Abolition
Abolition, abolitionists, anti-slavery, The Liberator, the colonial movement
Maria Weston Chapman The Boston-based anti-slavery activist, Maria Weston Chapman (1806-1885), was a leading voice in the abolitionist cause and an advocate for women’s participation. As both a dedicated abolitionist and family woman, “Captain” Chapman as she was known, pushed hard for what she believed in. As a founding member of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery…
The Yellow House at 3 Smith Court One of the few remaining wooden structures on Beacon Hill, the long and narrow house at 3 Smith Court now stands opposite to the Museum of African American History. Over two centuries, the house has been the home to titans of the abolition movement and witnessed a constantly…
The Fugitive Slave Laws in Boston: Part 2, 1850–1855 This article, part 2 in a series on fugitive slaves in Boston, explores the new legislation passed during the lead up to the Civil War which expanded the reach of the fugitive slave law, and the reactions of Bostonians to slave catchers targeting residents. Part 2…
This article, part 1 in a two-part series, explores the documentary history of the legalization of slavery in the United States, and the creation of federal laws prioritizing the rights of slaveholders over basic human rights. Part 1 surveys Massachusetts’ legalization of slavery in 1641; its abolishment of slavery in 1783; the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793; and how abolitionist organizations in Boston defied the Fugitive Slave Laws in order to help escaped enslaved people defend their freedom.
Established in 1840, Boston’s Twelfth Baptist Church was located on the North Slope of Beacon Hill (in the historic West End) until its move to Roxbury in 1906. In the 1850s and ‘60s, the Church defiantly mobilized in response to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Under the leadership of Leonard Grimes, the congregation raised funds to aid freedom seekers and became known as the “Fugitive Slave Church.” This active political, cultural, and religious meeting place had many prominent members and visitors from the Black abolitionist community, including Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Lewis and Harriet Hayden, Shadrach Minkins, Anthony Burns, Thomas Sims, Christiana Carteaux and Edward Mitchell Bannister, and Peter Randolph.
The Leverett Street Jail in Boston’s West End held several freedom seekers whose cases tested the U.S.’s Fugitive Slave Law of 1793, including the cases of Eliza Small and Polly Ann Bates (1836), and George Latimer (1842).
Robert Morris (1823-1882) was a prominent civil rights leader in Boston and the United States’ second African American lawyer. He built a successful career as a lawyer handling civil, criminal, and civil rights cases, while putting his life and livelihood on the line for causes he believed in: abolition, the protection of freedom seekers, the desegregation of schools, the integration of militias, equal rights for women, and fair representation for immigrants.
Charles Sumner (1811-1874) was a lawyer and United States Senator who was a vocal abolitionist and civil rights advocate. He was born and lived most of his life on the North Slope of Beacon Hill, where he had close connections with the Black and abolitionist community.
