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Shadrach "Fugitive" Rescue! Black Abolitionists- Boycotts &

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The Gist of Freedom

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The Gist of Freedom Welcomes Stephanie Gilbert to the reading and book discussion, Black Abolitionists by Benjamin Quarles with hosts, Preston Washington and Ty Gray-EL.
One of The First, Interracial Riots, Blacks and Whites, Anti-Slavery Supporters Rioted together, in defense of
Shadrach Minkins a Self-Emancipated black man "Fugitive Slave"!


in 1851, a group of outraged black men burst into a courtroom in Boston and rescued Shadrach Minkins, the first escaped slave seized in New England under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law.

About 20 black men grabbed Minkins "by the collar and feet" and ran out the door, down the hallway and stairs, and into the crowded street. The crowd was so large and so hostile that the marshals dared not pursue the rescuers.

Here is Stephanie Gilbert's  great great grandfather's (Narrative) Account of what happened next...


"A number of the colored people caught hold of the door and pulled it and took Shadrach out of the court house. Amid great excitement we run him off to Canada. Before sending him we run him to the west end and change his attire to that of a woman. It caused a great furor throughout the U.S, but we landed the fugitive beyond the reaches of the two legged blood hounds. Everybody who was suspected of having a hand in running him off to Canada were arrested. I happened to escape and being the first to give the alarm. Many had trials but none was convicted. This affair stirred us up in Boston. Hundreds of fugitive slaves fled from Boston after that. Some went to Canada, some to Halifax and some to St John’s N.B. and spent the remainder of their days there.
He was taken to a hiding place on Beacon Hill. That night, he began his journey on the Underground Railroad. Six days later, he arrived safely in Canada."

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