On this day in 1854 – Fugitive slave Anthony Burns was returned to the South from Boston. In 1854, Burns took steps to find freedom. While working in Richmond, he boarded a ship heading north, to the city of Boston. Burns arrived in Boston in March a fugitive, but free. It was however, short lived. Burns was convicted of being a fugitive slave on June 2, 1854. That same day, an estimated 50,000 lined the streets of Boston, watching Burns walk in shackles toward the waterfront and the waiting ship. It cost the federal government $100,000 to return Burns. A black church soon raised $1300 to purchase Burns’ freedom. In less than a year Anthony Burns was back in Boston a free man.