# Anthony Burns

**Author:** Virginia Hamilton
**Grade range:** Grades 4–10
**First published:** 1989
**Page count:** 212
**Genre:** Children's
**ISBN-13:** `9780590428934`
**ISBN-10:** `0590428934`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/anthony-burns-the-defeat-and-triumph-of-a-fugitive-slave
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

A biography of the slave who escaped to Boston in 1854, was arrested at the instigation of his owner, and whose trial caused a furor between abolitionists and those determined to enforce the Fugitive Slave Acts. The year is 1854. Anthony Burns, a Virginia slave, has escaped to Boston, but his freedom is short-lived. According to the Fugitive Slave Act, a runaway can be captured in any free state, and Burns is soon imprisoned. The antislavery forces in Massachusetts are outraged. Abolitionist lawyer Richard Dana steps forward to defend Burns free of charge, and the sensational trial brings massive riots and thousands of troops to the streets of Boston. At the center of it all, haunted by memories of his life as a slave and praying that his defenders will prevail, is Anthony Burns himself. T

## Where this book is assigned

### Boston Globe–Horn Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 1988 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 1988 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 1988 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 7th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 1988 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 8th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 1988 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 1988 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 10th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 1988 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)

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