Download Escape Narratives of Historic Figures

Kevin W. Walsh
United States History
Slavery and Abolitionists
General Background
When discussing the resistance to slavery in 19th century America, abolitionists and "free soilers" need to be
distinguished from each other. Abolitionists were the advocates of the compulsory emancipation of AfricanAmerican slaves, while free-soilers opposed the extension of slavery.
The active campaign of abolition began during the revival of evangelical religion in the North (1820s), with its
moral urgency to end sinful behavior. It reached a crusading stage in the 1830s, led, in part, by William Lloyd
Garrison. The American Anti-Slavery Society, established in 1833, flooded the slave states with abolitionist
literature and had extensive lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.
Abolitionists were divided over the method of achieving their objectives, however. One branch advocated for
personal moral cleansing that would lead to an understanding of the sinfulness of slavery, while others pursued
direct political action.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet B. Stowe, became an effective piece of abolitionist propaganda, and the question of
whether states newly-admitted into the Union would be classified as free or slave aroused emotions in both the
North and South. One of the most infamous acts of abolitionism was John Brown’s raid on the federal arsenal at
Harper’s Ferry in an attempt to lead an armed slave revolt. Abolitionist demands for immediate freeing of the slaves
after the outbreak of the Civil War resulted in President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
Lincoln was aware of the role that slavery played in tearing the country apart, yet he also understood that slavery
was protected by the constitution at the time. His first attempts at abolition were war measures that applied only to
states actively engaged in rebellion. The Emancipation Proclamation applied only to these states and not to proUnion border states or rebellious states under Union control. At the end of the Civil War, Lincoln attacked the
constitution’s support of slavery by supporting what was to become the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished
slavery altogether.
The freedom of slaves was not just the work of Lincoln or the abolitionists. Slaves often took matters into their own
hands, working individually and collectively to secure their freedom. The Underground Railroad is an example of
their strong desire for freedom. Freed slaves and free African-Americans wore the uniform of their country and
fought in the Civil War. In many of the Southern states, slaves did not wait for conquering Union troops; they freed
themselves.
An Abolitionist's Opinion
Abolitionist sentiment swept through the North in the 1830s. William Lloyd Garrison, publisher
of The Liberator, was an uncompromising opponent of slavery. In one of his most widely acclaimed
editorials, he expressed the following sentiments.
I recently made a tour of this country, during which I lectured the people on the subject of slavery. Every
place I visited gave evidence of the fact that a greater revolution in public sentiment [against slavery] was
present in the free states, particularly in New England, than in the southern states. Among the people of
the southern states, I found contempt more bitter, opposition more active, prejudice more stubborn, and
apathy more frozen than among slave owners themselves. Of course, there were individual exceptions.
Though disheartened, I was determined to lift up the standard [banner] of emancipation in the eyes of the
nation. That standard is now unfurled. Let all the enemies of the persecuted blacks tremble.
I agree with the "self-evident truth" maintained in the Declaration of Independence that "all men are
created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights—among which are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Doing so, I shall strenuously contend for the immediate release of
our slave population.
On the Fourth of July, 1829, in an address on slavery, I thoughtlessly assented to the popular doctrine of
gradual abolition. I seize this opportunity to make a full and unequivocal withdrawal of that statement. I
also publicly ask pardon of my country and of the poor slaves for having uttered a sentiment so full of
injustice.
I am aware that many people object to the severity of my language [in the editorials], but is there not a
cause for severity? I will be as harsh as the truth and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do
not wish to think, speak, or write with moderation. I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not
excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I will be heard.
SOURCE: Adapted from Garrison, W. P., and F. J. Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879 (New
York: Century Co., 1885), Vol. 1.
Escape Narratives of Historic Figures
Excerpts from Linda Brent’s Escape Narrative
Linda Brent writes:
[Peter] took me in his boat, rowed out to a vessel not far distant, and hoisted me on board…They said I was to
remain on board till near dawn, and then they would hide me in Snaky swamp….About four o'clock, we were again
seated in the boat, and rowed three miles to the swamp. My fear of snakes had been increased by the venomous bite
I had received, and I dreaded to enter this hiding place. But I was in no situation to choose, and I gratefully accepted
the best that my poor, persecuted friends could do for me. (p.115) A small shed had been added to my grandmother's
house years ago. Boards were laid across the joists at the top, and between these boards and the roof was a very
small garret, never occupied by anything but rats and mice….The garret was only nine feet long and seven
wide….To this hole I was conveyed as soon as I entered the house. The air was stifling; the darkness total. A bed
had been spread on the floor. I could sleep quite comfortably on one side; but the slope was so sudden that I could
not turn on the other without hitting the roof. The rats and mice ran over my bed…. This continued darkness was
oppressive. It seemed horrible to sit or lie in a cramped position day after day, without one gleam of light. Yet I
would have chosen this, rather than my lot as a slave…. (p.117) [After seven years in her tiny and dark hiding place,
she finally secured a passage to Chesapeake Bay in a boat with the help of her friends and family. The uneventful
passage took her to New York where she discovers some disappointment in the last leg of her journey:] Colored
people were allowed to ride in a filthy box, behind white people, at the south but they were not required to pay for
the privilege. It made me sad to find the north aped the customs of slavery. We were stowed away in a large, rough
car, with windows on each side, too high for us to look without standing up. It was crowded with people, apparently
of all nations. There were plenty of beds and cradles, containing screaming and kicking babies….The fumes of the
whiskey and the dense tobacco smoke were sickening to my senses, and my mind was equally nauseated by the
coarse jokes and ribald songs around me. (p.169)
Frederick Douglas's Escape to Freedom
Although Douglas does not reveal in great detail his escape to freedom, he describes poignantly the trying times he
encountered in the free state of New York upon his arrival. The following excerpt is from Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglas.
"I have been frequently asked how I felt when I found myself in a free State. I have never been able to answer the
question with any satisfaction to myself. It was a moment of the highest excitement I ever experienced…. In writing
to a dear friend, immediately after my arrival in New York, I said I felt like one who had escaped a den of hungry
lions. This state of mind, however, very soon subsided; and I was again seized with a feeling of loneliness. I was yet
liable to be taken back, and subjected to all the tortures of slavery. But the loneliness overcame me. There I was in
the midst of thousands, and yet a perfect stranger; without home and without friends, in the midst of thousands of
my own brethren-children of a common Father, and yet I dared not to unfold to any of them my sad condition…"
SOURCE: Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas. New York: Signet, 1968.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
To the Union Savers of Cleveland
Men of Cleveland, had a vulture,
Sought a timid dove for prey;
Would you not, with human pity,
Drive the gory bird away?
Had you seen a feeble lambkin,
Shrinking from a wolf so bold,
Would ye not to shield the trembler,
In your arms have made its fold?
But when she, a hunted sister,
Stretched her hands that ye might save,
Colder far than Zembla's regions,
Was the answer that ye gave.
On the Union's bloody altar,
Was your hapless victim laid;
Mercy, truth, and justice shuddered,
But your hands would give no aid.
And ye sent her back to the torture,
Robbed of freedom and of fright;
Thrust the wretched, captive stranger,
Back to slavery's gloomy night.
Back where brutal men may trample,
On her honor and her fame;
And unto her lips so dusky,
Press the cup of woe and shame.
There is blood upon our city,
Dark and dismal is the stain;
And your hands would fail to cleanse it,
Though Lake Erie ye should drain.
There's a curse upon your Union,
Fearful sounds are in the air;
As if thunderbolts were framing,
Answers to the bondsman's prayer.
Ye may offer human victims,
Like the heathen priests of old;
And may barter manly honor,
For the Union and for gold.
But ye can not stay the whirlwind,
When the storm begins to break;
And our God doth rise in judgment,
For the poor and needy's sake.
And, your sin-cursed, guilty Union,
Shall be shaken to its base,
Till ye learn that simple justice,
Is the right of every race.
Anna Maria Weems (1840-?)
According to Underground Rail Road records, Anna Weems disguised her gender and used several male aliases in
order to escape her plight and acquire freedom. At the time of her escape, she was a "bright mulatto, well-grown,
smart and good-looking" fifteen year old girl. Her family members, including her mother, have been sold before she
turned thirteen. Because her owners feared that she would escape, they made her sleep in their chamber in order to
prevent her from doing so. Finally she had the means to escape with the help of the Underground Railroad. William
Still describes her escape in The Underground Railroad (1870):
The only chance of procuring her freedom, depended upon getting her away on the Underground Rail Road. She
was neatly attired in male habiliments, and in that manner came all the way from Washington. After passing two or
three days with her new friends in Philadelphia, she was sent on (in male attire) to Lewis Tappan, of New York, who
had likewise been deeply interested in her case from the beginning, and who held himself ready, as was understood,
to cash a draft for three hundred dollars to compensate the man who might risk his own liberty in bringing her on
from Washington. After having arrived safely in New York, she found a home and kind friends in the family of Rev.
A. N. Freeman, and received quite an ovation characteristic of an Underground Rail Road. (185). Still further points
out that Weems later moved to Canada to be educated at the "Buxton Settlement," after staying in New York and
Brooklyn. Her story is only one of the many which attests to the courage of the women who participated in this
harrowing journey to freedom.
Sheridan Ford (1855-?)
In The Underground Railroad, Still describes Ford as a twenty eight year-old man who "was tall, and well-made,
and possessed of a considerable share of intelligence." After being whipped severely by his master and hearing of
being auctioned off in the near future, Ford decided to enlist the help of the committee running the Underground
Rail Road in order to escape his dismal fate. Still recounts Ford's flight to freedom:
The first day of the woods he passed in prayer incessantly, all alone. In this particular place of seclusion he remained
"four days and nights," "two days suffered severely from hunger, cold and thurst." However, one who was a "friend"
to him, and knew his whereabouts, managed to get some food to him and consoling words; but at the end of the four
days this friend got into some difficulty and thus Sheridan was left to "wade through deep waters and head winds" in
an almost hopeless state. There he could not consent to stay and starve to death. Accordingly, he left and found
another place of seclusion-with a friend in the town- for a pecuniary consideration. A secret passage was procured
for him on one of the steamers running between Philadelphia and Richmond, Va. When he left his poor wife, Julia,
she was then "lying in prison to be sold," on the simple charge of having been suspected of conniving at her
husband's escape. As a woman she had known something of the "barbarism of slavery" from everyday experience,
which the large scars about her head indicated—according to Sheridan's testimony. She was the mother of two
children, but had never been allowed to have the care of either of them. The husband, utterly powerless to offer the
least sympathy in word or deed, left his dark habitation of cruelty, as above referred to, with no hope of ever seeing
wife or child again in this world. (53) As Still suggests in this narrative, men and their wives and children were often
separated as a result of this flight. The desire to avoid any more sufferings and, more often than not, to preserve
one's life, resulted in the disintegration of the basic family unit. Still concludes in this particular account that Ford
reached Boston as he had planned.
Harriet Tubman's Life in Slavery
Harriet Ross was born into slavery in 1819 or 1820, in Dorchester County, Maryland. Given the names of her two
parents, both held in slavery, she was of purely African ancestry. She was raised under harsh conditions, and
subjected to whippings even as a small child. At the age of 12, she was seriously injured by a blow to the head,
inflicted by a white overseer, for refusing to assist in tying up a man who had attempted escape. At the age of 25,
she married John Tubman, a free African American. Five years later, fearing she would be sold South, she made her
escape.
Her Escape to Freedom in Canada
Tubman was given a piece of paper by a white neighbor with two names, and told how to find the first house on her
path to freedom. At the first house she was put into a wagon, covered with a sack, and driven to her next destination.
Following the route to Pennsylvania, she initially settled in Philadelphia, where she met William Still, the
Philadelphia Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad. With the assistance of Still, and other members of the
Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society, she learned about the workings of the UGRR. In 1851, she began relocating
members of her family to St. Catherines, (Ontario) Canada West. North Street in St. Catherines remained her base of
operations until 1857. While there, she worked at various activities to save to finance her activities as a Conductor
on the UGRR, and attended the Salem Chapel BME Church on Geneva Street.
Her Role in the Underground Railroad
After freeing herself from slavery, Harriet Tubman returned to Maryland to rescue other members of her family. In
all, she is believed to have conducted approximately 300 persons to freedom in the North. The tales of her exploits
reveal her highly spiritual nature, as well as a grim determination to protect her charges and those who aided them.
She always expressed confidence that God would aid her efforts, and threatened to shoot any of her charges who
thought to turn back.