Three days after the arrest and rescue of Shadrach, a fugitive enslaved man, the mayor of Boston was ordered to direct the city marshal to assist agents of the state and federal government in the execution of their duty when obstructed by a mob such as the one that rescued Shadrach. These officers felt that the 1843 Massachusetts law that prevented “all officers of the commonwealth from engaging . . . in the arrest, detention, or imprisonment of a fugitive slave” governed their actions. The Boston officers probably did not agree with the Fugitive Slave Law and did not want to come to the aid of the federal marshals in any case. The letter from Daniel Webster on behalf of President Fillmore to the mayor of Boston, includes the sentiment that the people of Boston must understand that a law should be regarded as a law, whether they agree with it or not.
Greenfield Gazette and Courier. “The Boston Mob.” March 31, 1851. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l09-004/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
Please note: Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.