On this day, Black abolitionists in Boston boldly stormed a courtroom to rescue Shadrach Minkins, a fugitive slave captured under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Minkins had escaped slavery in Virginia and found work in Boston, but was arrested by U.S. marshals. Members of the Boston Vigilance Committee, a group committed to protecting fugitive slaves, freed him from custody and helped him reach safety in Canada. The incident became a powerful symbol of resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act and federal enforcement of slavery.
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