African Americana

14 X 10 5/8 in. printed political cartoon (light creasing, minor brown spotting, small areas of loss with repair at lower edge); framed to 19 1/4 x 15 1/4 in. (not examined out of frame). 

Faneuil Hall is depicted on giant rockers at center, with large groups on either side representing abolitionists on the right declaring "This is the way to make freemen", and the pro-slavery faction on the left saying, "Rocking Slaves in Faneuil Hall." Men near the center are shown getting their feet trampled by the rockers, presumably representing the perceived futility of moderation. Several groups of men stand at the perimeter voicing various opinions about the issue. The subtitle reads: "In commemoration of the attempt to arrest fugitive slaves, under the fugitive slave law passed 1850, a man by the name Shadrach being the first person arrested, but was rescued from the hands of the officers in the United States Court Room and then fled to Canada."

Shadrach Minkins (ca 1814-1875), escaped enslavement in Virginia in 1850 and made it as far as Boston where he found work as a waiter. Later that year Congress enacted the Fugitive Slave Act, allowing Federal agents to seize self-emancipated formerly enslaved and return them to the South. When Shadrach was captured and taken to court in Faneuil Hall, a group of activists protesting the Fugitive Slave Act (and slavery in general) entered the courtroom and using force freed him from the Federal marshals. These men and many others helped Shadrach make his way via the Underground Railroad to Montreal, where he settled and raised a family.