The Odyssey of John Anderson

In 1860 the American government made a formal request for the extradition of a fugitive slave, John Anderson of Brantford, Canada West. At first glance the request was routine. But the legal, political, and diplomatic controversy that arose from this hearing threatened to topple a Canadian government, and aroused animostities between Britons and Americans.

Patrick Brode explores the legal and political implications of the Anderson case and reveals something of the man at the centre of it all. John Anderson was an ordinary man caught in extraordinary circumstances. For a few moths he was a public figure, a personification of the struggle against slavery. Not long after the hearing he dropped from public view, adding a final, unsolved mystery to this intriguing case.