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Group of vigiliantes acting as a government From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A vigilance committee is a group of private citizens who take it upon themselves to administer law and order or exercise power in places where they consider the governmental structures or actions inadequate.[1] Prominent historical examples of vigilance committees engaged in forms of vigilantism include abolitionist committees who, beginning in the 1830s, worked to free enslaved people and aid fugitive slaves, in violation of the laws at the time.[2] However, many other vigilance committees were explicitly grounded in racial prejudice and xenophobia, administering extrajudicial punishment to abolitionists or members of minority groups.
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Abolitionists met at Faneuil Hall in the 1830s and formed the Committee of Vigilance and Safety to "take all measures that they shall deem expedient to protect the colored people of this city in the enjoyment of their lives and liberties."[3] The abolitionist New York Committee of Vigilance and Vigilant Committee of Philadelphia were also established in the 1830s and assisted fugitive slaves and the Underground Railroad.[citation needed]
Between 1850 and 1860, following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, professional bounty hunters began swarming through Northern states searching for missing enslaved people. In response, vigilance committees were set up in several places in the North to assist the escaped enslaved people. For example, Gerrit Smith called the Fugitive Slave Convention of 1850 "on behalf of the New York State Vigilance Committee."[4] Many such committees were integral parts of the Underground Railroad.[5]
In the Western United States, before and after the Civil War, various vigilance committees formed with the stated purpose of maintaining law and order and administer summary justice where governmental law enforcement was inadequate.[citation needed] In reality, those high in the social hierarchy often used them to attack maligned groups, including recent immigrants and racial or ethnic groups.[citation needed] In newly settled areas, vigilance committees promised security and mediated land disputes. In ranching areas, they ruled on ranch boundaries, registered brands, and protected cattle and horses. In the mining districts, they defended claims, settled claim disputes, and attempted to protect miners and other residents.[citation needed] In California, some residents formed vigilance committees to take control of officials whom they considered to be corrupt. This occurred in San Francisco during the 1856 trial of Charles Cora (Belle Cora's husband) and James Casey.[6]
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