Anthony Burns Rendition Turns Boston Against Fugitive Slave Act

On June 2, 1854, Anthony Burns — a self-emancipated Virginian — is marched through Boston under military guard to be returned to slavery, as 50,000 people line the streets in protest. The federal government spends $40,000 to enforce the rendition. The spectacle converts thousands of Bostonians to abolitionism. Burns is eventually purchased and freed in 1855.