American Experience

Failed Protests

Clip: Season 1 | 2m 55s

In the Spring of 1854, fugitive slave Anthony Burns sat in Boston's city jail. Locals protesting for Burns' release turned violent before the U.S. President Franklin Pierce ordered hundreds of military troops to escort Burns to a ship waiting in the harbor. Though abolitionists were losing hope, they had shifted history.

Aired: 01/08/13

Rating: NR

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