The Anderson case took place in

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

from 1860 to 1861. The case dealt with whether or not to extradite an escaped slave to the United States on the charge of murder. The majority of the presiding judges who handled the case agreed that there was sufficient evidence to prove criminality of the extraditable offence. The decision was based upon the terms laid out in Article X of the

Webster–Ashburton Treaty The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty that resolved several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies (the region that became Canada). Signed under John Tyler's presidency, it ...

of 1842. Anderson was released on a technicality.

Background

Jack Burrows, an enslaved man in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, escaped from slavery in September 1853. On 28 September, three days after he left his enslavers, he encountered Seneca T. P. Digges, a slaveowner who sent his slaves to recapture Burrows. During a struggle, Burrows stabbed Digges who died on 11 October. Accounts differ on whether Digges provoked Burrows (later Anderson). Burrows, tracked by bounty hunters, travelled by foot to Chicago. From there he went to Detroit and entered Canada, reaching

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

(then in

) in November 1853. While in Canada, Burrows changed his name to John Anderson. Anderson lived and worked in Canada West from 1854 to April 1860, managing to keep a low profile. A

slave catcher In the United States a slave catcher was a person employed to track down and return escaped slaves to their enslavers. The first slave catchers in the Americas were active in European colonies in the West Indies during the sixteenth century. I ...

from Detroit named James H. Gunning investigated Anderson's case and eventually got a warrant around April or May 1860. Anderson was arrested in August and held by Magistrate William Matthews in

Brantford Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County, but is politically separate with ...

. Article X of the

allowed extradition from Canada to the United States if the act for which the US sought extradition would constitute a crime in the relevant Canadian jurisdiction (in this case Canada West). The central issue in Anderson's extradition case was whether his stabbing of Digges was a crime or simply an incident of his escape from slavery.

Legal and political significance

Some have argued that the Anderson case, aside from igniting a media, legal, and political frenzy, had a profound impact on Canada’s future relationship with Britain. It also set an important precedent for Canadian leaders to make the superior courts handle the most political divisive decisions, which had originally been reserved for the executive branch of government.

Assistance

Anti-slavery associations from Britain and pre-Confederation Canada played an instrumental role in assisting Anderson before, during, and after the case.

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

used public funds to foot the bill for Anderson's legal defences.

Britain attempts to intervene

A crucial feature in the whole situation occurred while Anderson was awaiting an appeal of the Canadian court's initial decision, which stipulated that he should indeed be extradited. The British Court of Queen's Bench attempted to interfere by sending a

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

of ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'' for him to appear before a court in London, England. To Britain's Canadian subjects who were already in the process of handling the situation. "Not only was the writ 'an evil precedent', but it could lead to further conflict between English and Canadian judicatures." The English courts never got their chance to handle the case because Anderson's appeal was expedited to the Court of Common Pleas. He was released due to faulty wording in the warrant.

Reactions

The issue with the British writ and the negative reaction to it uncovered the need for written clarification of the relationship between British and Canadian courts. As one result, the

Habeas Corpus Act 1862 The Habeas Corpus Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c.20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that limited the right of the English courts to issue writs of ''habeas corpus'' in British colonies or dominions. The act was passed in response to ...

was passed by the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

in 1862, which denied British courts the right to issue writs of ''habeas corpus'' for British colonies or dominions with their own courts capable of doing so. It reaffirmed that Canadian jurisdictions had become self-sufficient and did not take kindly to interference in their judicial system.

References

Works cited

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