A quiet walk home. A sudden arrest. A city ignited.

In this episode of American History Hunter, we revisit a night in Boston that turned a single life into a national flashpoint. As crowds gather and tensions rise, the meaning of liberty—and the cost of compromise—are thrown into stark relief.

If this story moves you, teaches you something new, or simply keeps you hooked, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Intro Music: "Between Your Eyes" by P-01 (Newly renamed, Subject to Change)

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Bibliography:

Finkelman, Paul. “Anthony Burns,” Union or Secession: Virginians Decide, Education at the Library of Virginia, 2001. https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/oc/union-or-secession/people/anthony-burns.

"Fugitive Slave Act of 1850." Avalon Project at Yale Law School, Accessed April 16, 2025.

Guelzo, Allen C. Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Leddy, Chuck. “BOSTON COMBUSTS The Fugitive Slave Case of Anthony Burns,” Civil War Times 46 (2): 50–55 (2007). https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=02234099-1aa8-3b2b-ba2f-4298db8349b8.

Lincoln, Abraham. A House Divided: Speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858. In The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler, vol. 2, 461–466. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953. https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/house.htm

"Prigg v. Pennsylvania." Oyez. Accessed April 16, 2025. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1789-1850/41us539.

Sparks, Robert V. “Biographical Sketch,” William Lloyd Garrison Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Published July 1980; last modified October 2022. https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fa0278. 

U.S. Constitution, art. 4, Constitution Annotated, https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-4/.

Find out why Congress got drunk in 1850–and why the Compromise of 1850 left Congress and the nation with a nasty hangover.

Intro Music: "Between Your Eyes" by P-01

Image Source: The United States Senate, A.D. 1850, by Peter F. Rothermel (Public Domain)

Bibliography:

Benton, ThomasHart. “Against the Compromise of 1850,” Speech, Senate Floor, June 10, 1850.From Byrd, Robert C. The Senate,1789-1989: Classic Speeches, 1830-1993 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1994.).https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/BentonSpeech1850.pdf.

“Bitter Feelings in the Senate Chamber, April 3, 1850,” U.S. Senate: Historical Highlights, https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Bitter_Feelings_In_the_Senate_Chamber.htm. (accessed April 1, 2025).

Clay, Edward Williams. "Scene in Uncle Sam's Senate. 17th April 1850," Print, Washington D.C., Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Cartoon Prints, American Collection, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661528/ (accessed April 1, 2025).

Conference committee report on the Missouri Compromise, March 1, 1820; Joint Committee of Conference on the Missouri Bill, 03/01/1820-03/06/1820; Record Group 128l; Records of Joint Committees of Congress, 1789-1989; National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/missouri compromise (accessed April 1, 2025).

Fitzhugh, George. 1854. “Slavery Justified,” in Sociology for the South, or the Failure of Free Society. Documenting the American South. University Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1998. https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/fitzhughsoc/fitzhugh.html.

Garrison, William Lloyd. “To the Public,” The Liberator, January 1, 1831.

Guelzo, Allen C. Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Hamilton, Holman. “`The Cave of the Winds’ and the Compromise of 1850.” The Journal of Southern History 23, no. 3 (1957): 331–53. https://doi.org/10.2307/2954884. (accessed April 1, 2025).

Moss, David and Campasano, Marc. (2017). “A Nation Divided: The United States and the Challenge of Secession”. HBS No. 9-716-048. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.

Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States North West of the River Ohio; 7/13/1787; Miscellaneous Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774 - 1789; Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, Record Group 360; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. https://www.archives.gov/milestone documents/northwest-ordinance. (accessed April 1, 2025) 

“Struggles Over Slavery: The ‘Gag’ Rule,” Treasures of Congress, 10, National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/treasures_of_congress/text/page10_text.h tml (accessed April 1, 2025).

Thoreau, Henry David. “Resistance to Civil Government,” (1849; Project Gutenberg, 1993), https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/71/pg71 images.html.

Washington Roebling took part in an abnormal amount of significant events in American history. Find out why he just might have been the Forest Gump of the 19th century.

Intro music: ⁠"Between Your Eyes"⁠ by ⁠P-01⁠

Bibliography:

The Great Bridge by David McCullough

The Civil War: A Narrative (Volumes 1-3) by Shelby Foote

American Battlefield Trust

Find out why Wilmer McLean decided that it was time to move.

Intro music: "Between Your Eyes" by P-01

Bibliography:

The Civil War: A Narrative (Volumes 1-3) by Shelby Foote

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Two Roads to Sumter by Bruce Catton