What common traits do you find among the fugitives? When do several slaves escape together? Included are the escape and capture notices of two fugitives: why might their attempts have failed? In many, however, such as these thirty-five Virginia ads in the 1700s, the slaveholders reveal much about the runaways' intentions and potential success, either directly ("he is so ingenious a fellow, that he can turn his hand to anything") or indirectly ("he has been much whipped, which his Back will show").
Runaway advertisements may seem an unlikely source for insight into runaways' motives and plans, for they are usually boilerplate listings of names, physical descriptions, and rewards offered. In the next Theme, COMMUNITY, we will consider the organized aspects of escape including the Underground Railroad and fugitive-aid organizations. Here we look at the individual's decision to run away (or not) and the direct consequences of escape. "No use running from bad to worse," advised Martin Jackson's father, adding that "the War wasn't going to last forever our forever was going to be spent living among the Southerners, after they got licked." Deciding to run away was a complicated decision with many factors to weigh. yet many slaves knew well that a failed escape risked doom. if I did not meet the crisis that day, I should be self-doomed." Self-doomed.
"The hour was now come," recalls James Pennington of his escape from slavery, "and the man must act and be free, or remain a slave for ever. On running away, selections from WPA narratives, 1930s (PDF) History and Literature, Toolbox Library, National Humanities CenterĪ runaway's explanation, William Chase letter, 1827 (PDF)Įscape to Canada, Littles' narratives, 1856, excerpts (PDF)Įscape to Canada, W. Fugitive Slaves, Runaways, Enslavement, African American Identity: Vol.
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