William Parker: Rebel Without Rights

William Parker defies the U.S. government in the Christiana Riot of 1851, which triggers the biggest treason trial in American history

Grade 4-8?This fast-moving story "based on fact" reads more like a work of nonfiction than historical fiction. It tells of a little-known episode in American history that took place on September 11, 1851, in Christiana, PA. A group of former slaves, led by William Parker, fought back when Maryland slave owner Edward Gorsuch tried to reclaim his human "property." This "riot" or "rebellion" (depending on where you stood on the issues of slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act) ended with Gorsuch's death. While Parker was able to flee to Canada via the Underground Railroad, several men were arrested and tried for treason. The character of William Parker never really comes to life, but this is nonetheless a fascinating book. It is an informative, well-researched, and eye-opening look at a significant event in history. Libraries that own Margaret Hope Bacon's nonfiction Rebellion at Christiana (Crown, 1975; o.p.) will still want to purchase Rosenberg's title, which is written for a younger audience.?Elizabeth Mellett, Brookline Public Library, MA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A fictional treatment of the story of the man at the heart of the Christiana Riot, a little noted but important precursor to the Civil War. Parker was born a slave, escaped while a teen, and settled in Pennsylvania. There he organized active resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act that ultimately led to an armed confrontation with a mob of slave owners, slave catchers, kidnappers, and lawmen; a slave owner was killed and his son wounded. Sticking close to facts, but with gripping and powerful novelistic touches, this is the kind of history lesson readers like best. Rosenburg, citing his sources only in the acknowledgements, is thoroughly researched, relying on Parker's autobiography, court transcripts, speeches, and newspapers of the time, and bolstering the story with background information on the Compromise of 1850, North-South politics, and the Fugitive Slave Act. Throughout, he maintains a narrative flow certain to keep pages turning. (b&w photos and prints, not seen). (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 5^-7. William Parker led the Christiana Riot in Pennsylvania in 1851, when a group of runaway slaves resisted the U.S. government's attempt to return them to their Southern owners. Combining fiction with biography, history, and commentary, Rosenburg tells Parker's personal story: his bitter childhood as a slave, when he watched his family sold away; his escape to the North as a teenager; his subsequent role on the Underground Railroad helping others hide and get away; the famous standoff against officials; the subsequent trial for treason and the acquittal. Some of the fictionalized scenes are awkward, with purposive dialogue and description. But Rosenburg places the drama in the sweep of history. He builds suspense with cliff-hanger chapter endings and tense foreshadowing. He also analyzes how the defiance of the Fugitive Slave Act exposed the hollowness of compromise and was a crucial prelude to the Civil War. Hazel Rochman