High School Unit I

Activity 2: Comparing and Contrasting Two Points of View in Newspaper Reports

Was it an “outrage” or a “rescue” when black men whisked fugitive slave Shadrach Minkins out of the federal court house in downtown Boston? Have students read two contemporary newspaper reports (Documents H-16 and H-17) and respond to the questions at the end of each account.

Discuss as a class:

How objective are either of these newspaper accounts?
Which specific words and phrases indicate the perspective of the paper?
What do these articles tell you about newspaper coverage during this period?
What do the articles tell you about how “the people of Boston” responded to the Minkins case? Is there sufficient evidence on which to base an answer?
How has newspaper reporting changed since 1851?
What would it take to write an unbiased account of an event such as the removal of Shadrach Minkins from the court house?
Why might the “rescuers” have acted as they did? What risks did they take?
Could you write an objective account of what happened at the courthouse if you had only these two accounts on which to rely?
What do historians do to reconstruct an event in the distant past?
Under what circumstances do you believe civil disobedience is justified? (This question also lends itself to individual writing assignments.)

As follow-up activities, students can:

find out who came to the defense of Shadrach Minkins and what happened as a result of their actions.
compare the newspaper reports that followed the Shadrach Minkins episode with newspaper coverage of the Anthony Burns trial.
identify words and phrases that suggest bias in the headlines or text of present-day newspaper articles.

Document HS I-17: “No Union with Slave Holders!”: Excerpts from The Liberator, February 21, 1851

In the succeeding columns, we give an account of the arrest, rescue and flight of a slave in this city, on Saturday last—

Stated in the briefest form, what are the facts in the case? The Deputy U.S. Marshal with two or three base confederates seizes an inoffensive colored man, guiltless of any crime against the laws of God or the well-being of society, in a manner the most sneaking, treacherous and dastardly,—in a manner which shows how conscious the villains were that they were engaged in the work of the devil,—and yet in a manner in exact accordance with the spirit and object of the accursed Fugitive Slave Law,—on the charge of his being a fugitive from the chains and scourges of the Southerner house of bondage, hurried without a moment’s warning before Commissioner Curtis….

The victim, through his counsel, intercedes for a little delay, in order that he may be enabled to meet his accusers in the best legal manner possible. This is granted, and the case stands adjourned to a subsequent day. At this moment the door of the court room is pressed open by a crowd of sympathizing colored persons, who, without any deliberate concert—without any weapons in their hands—without any wish or intention to do personal violence to anyone—but operated upon by a sudden electric thrill, such as the emergency was well calculated to produce, seize their doomed brother, almost unresistingly, and in the twinkling of an eye hurried him out of the room, and soon placed him beyond the reach of his pursuers.

In the rush, a few of the officers may have been jostled, but no one was injured, no blow appears to have been given by the invading forces, no scar was made, no blood was drawn. It was as peaceful a rescue as was ever made in any case of physical interference. The rescuers were not actuated by a lawless spirit, but by a deep and commendable sympathy with a wronged and outraged man, in imminent danger of being dehumanized for life—by a love of liberty—by a clear appreciation of justice—by the spirit of the revolutionary motto, “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”

They apprehended that Shadrach was one who had fled from the hell of slavery, that, legally, there was no power to save him from being carried back to torture, that, in all probability, unless he was rescued just at that precise moment, his fate was sealed for ever; and as the opportunity to take him without a serious struggle was extremely favorable, they seized upon it with a wise judgment, and with entire success. Thank God, Shadrach is free—and not only free, but safe! Under the banner of England, on the Canadian soil, he is now standing erect, redeemed and disenthralled, bidding a proud defiance to President Fillmore and his cabinet, though backed by the army and navy of the United States! . . .

We defy the Fugitive Slave Bill, its framers and upholders, together with the devil and his works. Freedom for all, and forever!

Questions:

What position did The Liberator take regarding the Shadrach Minkins incident?

At what point in the account does their editorial stand become clear?

What have you learned from this article about the incident itself?

What motivated the rescuers?

What have you learned about the range of responses in the press to the rescue of Shadrach Minkins?

What questions does this document raise and where might you find answers?