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Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom

Downloads: Under 100
First published: 1860
Pages: 66

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About this book

In 1848 William and Ellen Craft made one of the boldest escapes from American slavery on record, and this is their own account of it. Ellen, light-skinned enough to pass as white, disguised herself as an ailing young gentleman travelling with his enslaved manservant, played by her husband, and together they journeyed openly by train and steamer from Georgia to freedom in the North. Published in 1860, the narrative recounts the near-misses and quick thinking that carried them past suspicious officials and slaveholders, and it sets their personal daring against a clear-eyed indictment of the laws and hypocrisies that made such a scheme necessary. It remains one of the most gripping and morally forceful of the slave narratives. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.

About the author

William Craft, Ellen Craft

William Craft (c.1824-1900) and Ellen Craft (c.1826-1891) were an enslaved married couple from Macon, Georgia, who escaped to the North in 1848 and became prominent abolitionist lecturers. They later settled in England before returning to found a school in Georgia after the Civil War.

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