Opening reception for The West End Museum’s new exhibit ‘An Illusion of Freedom’ Set for Feb. 27

In 1641, Massachusetts became the first of England’s colonies in North America to legalize slavery. After Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1783, Boston became known as a safe haven for freedom-seeking slaves. However, Southern slave-holding states, fearing the growing opposition to slavery and the successful thwarting of slave catchers, sought more and more legal protection from the federal government. This fight for protections resulted in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and later the Compromise of 1850. The latter included a much stronger Fugitive Slave Law that forced every state’s officials to assist in slave catching and threatened individuals who assisted runaway slaves with fines and jail sentences. This new law posed the greatest obstacle yet to Boston’s abolition movement, pitting it against emboldened slave owners and the federal government.

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