Shadrach minkins biography definition

American slave

Shadrach Minkins (c. 1814 – December 13, 1875) was an African-American fugitive slave from Virginia who escaped in 1850 and reached Boston.

He also used the pseudonyms Frederick Wilkins and Frederick Jenkins.^[1] He is known for being freed from a courtroom in Boston after being captured by United States marshals under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

Members of the Boston Vigilance Committee freed and hid him, helping him get to Canada via the Underground Railroad.

Shadrach minkins biography definition us history

Minkins settled in Montreal, where he raised a family. Two men were prosecuted in Boston for helping free him, but they were acquitted by the jury.

Early life

Minkins was born into slavery about 1817 in Norfolk, Virginia.^[2]

Escape and capture

He escaped from slavery at age 33 in May 1850 and reached Boston, Massachusetts, where he became a waiter.^[3] Later that year, Congress enacted the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed feder