Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom
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Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom details the escape of Ellen and William Craft from slavery in Georgia in the United States. Well publicized at the time, the married couple became celebrities in the abolitionist struggle. Their daring and risky plan meant passing the light-skinned Ellen off as a white male traveling with 'his' slave, William, as no woman would have traveled alone with a slave at the time. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom gives a unique historical opportunity to witness a first hand account of notions of race, gender and class as they stood in a nineteenth century society which treated them as fixed and defining.
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Why don't we hear about this power couple in school? Oh, I know why.... America was sad that they got BAMBOOZLED by 2 slaves who couldn't read or write. They worked hard to escape not once, BUT TWICE. Oh, I know people were salty. Mr. Craft read them for the filth, he dropped names, and FACTS. His fair skin wife dressed as a man and faked illness just in case she was called out. I was here for it, I rooted for them the entire way through even though I knew they made it.
“Our old masters, having heard how their agents were treated at Boston, wrote to Mr. Filmore, who was then President of the States, to know what he could do to have us sent back to slavery. Mr. Filmore said that we should be returned. He gave instructions for military force to be sent to Boston to assist the officers in making the arrest.”
Even the president at the time couldn't make anything happen. I felt like I was reading some gossip and sipped my tea slow. Hats off to this power couple who refused to be prisoners in a f**d up society where you are treated worse than dogs because of the color of your skin. So glad these two had a happy ending despite their unfortunate beginning.
“I have often seen slaves tortured in every conceivable manner. I have seen him hunted down and torn by bloodhounds. I have seen them shamefully beaten, and branded with hot irons. I have seen them hunted, and even burned alive at the stake, frequently for offences that would be applauded if committed by white persons for similar purposes. In short, it is well known in England, if not all over the world, that the Americans, as a people, are notoriously mean and cruel towards all coloured persons, whether they are bond or free.”
This was amazing. 10 out of 10. It's free, just do your google search. #couplesgoals
