are to have present
a large representation of persons from the various parts of the
country that steps may be taken for a more thorough prosecution of the
work.

THE JOURNAL

OF

NEGRO HISTORY

VOL. VII--JULY, 1922--NO. 3

THE ANDERSON FUGITIVE CASE

The recent decision of the Canadian government not to allow
deportation to proceed in the case of Matthew Bullock, a Negro whose
return was asked by the State of North Carolina, has served to recall
to public attention in Canada certain cases occurring during the
period of slavery in the United States when the Canadian courts were
asked to order the return of fugitives. The most famous of these was
the Anderson case tried before the Canadian courts at Toronto, in
1860, interest in which stirred the British provinces from end to end.

The Bullock case, recently decided, has some points of similarity to
the Anderson case, though the circumstances vary greatly. Bullock was
charged with participation in race riots in North Carolina in January
1921. He had made his way to Canada and succeeded in evading the
immigration authorities in entering the country. It was admitted by
the Canadian authorities that he was in the country illegally but in
the final decision it was stated that, as he had conducted himself in
an exemplary manner since entering, he would be allowed to remain. On
behalf of the fugitive it was freely hinted that should he be returned
to North Carolina he would risk being a victim of mob justice. While
this plea doubtless influenced the Canadian immigration authorities,
it could not, of course, be stated as their reason for allowing the
man his freedom.

The Anderson case of 1860, to which so much newspaper reference was
made during the progress of the Bullock case, came just on the eve of
the American Civil War. In some respects it looked to be one of the
last efforts of the slave-owners to secure complete enforcement of the
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. That measure, so detested by the North,
became a dead letter in many sections by the force of public opinion
but was also weakened by the fact that the fugitive in the North could
soon cross into Canada, if threatened by any sudden enforcement of the
law. An arrest under the Fugitive Slave Law in any northern city was
usually followed by a swift trek into Canada of other Negroes who
feared that they might be the next victims. But what if there could be
found some means of using British law