Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: Or, The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (Cambridge Library Collection - Slavery and Abolition) - Softcover

Craft, William; Craft, Ellen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1108065465 ISBN 13: 9781108065467

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2013

Synopsis

In this short work of 1860, William Craft (c.1825-1900), assisted by his wife Ellen (c.1825-91), recounts the remarkable story of how they escaped from slavery in America. Having married as slaves in Georgia, yet unwilling to raise a family in servitude, the couple came up with a plan to disguise the light-skinned Ellen as a man, with William acting as her slave, and to travel to the north in late 1848. This compelling narrative traces their successful journey to Philadelphia and their subsequent move to Boston, where they became involved in abolitionist activities. Later, the couple sought greater safety in England, where they lived for a number of years and had five children. A success upon its first appearance, the book touches on the themes of race, gender and class in mid-nineteenth-century America, offering modern readers a first-hand account of how barriers to freedom could be overcome.

About this title

Book Description:

This compelling narrative, first published in 1860, recounts how William Craft (c.1825-1900) and his wife Ellen (c.1825-1891) courageously escaped from slavery in America. The work traces their flight from Georgia to find freedom in the north and, later, in England.

From the Back Cover:

This compelling narrative offers a firsthand account of a couple's remarkable flight from slavery in the antebellum South. William and Ellen Craft devised a daring plan in which the light-skinned wife disguised herself as a man and the husband posed as her servant. This brief memoir recounts their journey northward in 1848, when they made their way to Philadelphia and later settled in Boston, where they were active in abolitionist circles.
Originally published in 1860, the Crafts' account of their escape was an immediate success. Their story offers fascinating insights into issues of race, gender, and class in nineteenth-century America.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1108065465
• ISBN 13: 9781108065467
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 122