Rescue of Joshua Glover
RESCUE OF
JOSHUA GLOVER
Joshua Glover was a runaway slave who sought freedom in
Racine in 1852. In 1854, his Missouri owner used the Fugitive
Slave Act to apprehend him. This 1850 law permitted slave
catchers to cross state lines to capture escaped slaves. Glover
was taken to Milwaukee and imprisoned.
Word spread about Glover’s incarceration and a great crowd
gathered around the jail demanding his release. They beat
down the jail door and released Joshua Glover. He was eventually
escorted to Canada and safety.
The Glover incident helped galvanize abolitionist sentiment
in Wisconsin. This case eventually led the state supreme court
to defy the federal government by declaring the Fugitive
Slave Act unconstitutional.
From HMDB, image by Paul Fehrenbach of Germantown, Wisconsin. Submitted to Read the Plaque by Ryan Maxwell.