According
to Walter Hawkins slaves constantly
talked about the possibility of escape: "there arose in some
an irrepressible desire for freedom which no danger or power could
restrain, no hardship deterred, and no bloodhound could alarm. This
desire haunted them night and day; they talked about it to each other
in confidence; they knew that the system which bound them was as unjust
as it was cruel, and that they ought to strive, as a duty to themselves
and their children, to escape from it".
The main problem was having to leave family and friends. Henry
Bibb wrote in his autobiography that it was "one of the most
self-denying acts of my whole life, to take leave of an affectionate
wife, who stood before me on my departure, with dear little Frances
in her arms, and with tears of sorrow in her eyes as she bid me a
long farewell." They also knew that there was the possibility
that if they evaded capture, their closest relatives would be severely
punished.
They also knew that successful escapes were rare. Slaveowners
used bloodhounds to trace their slaves. Problems of finding food and
shelter in a hostile environment and the absence of maps were also
other factors in understanding why most slaves failed in their bids
for freedom. Moses Grandy explained the
problems that runaways faced: "They hide themselves during the
day in the woods and swamps; at night they travel, crossing rivers
by swimming, or by boats they may chance to meet with, and passing
over hills and meadows which they do not know; in these dangerous
journeys they are guided by the north-star, for they only know that
the land of freedom is in the north. They subsist on such wild fruit
as they can gather, and as they are often very long on their way,
they reach the free states almost like skeletons."
Within a few days of leaving the plantation
most runaways were brought back and heavily punished. Francis
Fredric was free for nine weeks but was captured and received
107 strokes of the whip. Moses Roper,
received 200 lashes and this was only brought to an end when the master's
wife pleaded for his life to be spared.
A study of runaway notices of local newspapers revealed that 76 per
cent of all fugitives were under 35, and 89 per cent of them were
men. Another study suggested that field slaves were more likely to
try and escape than house slaves.
The development of the underground railroad increased the number of
slaves who were able to reach safety. By the middle of the 19th century
it was estimated that over 50,000 slaves had escaped from the South
using this method. Plantation owners became so concerned by these
losses that in 1850 they managed to persuade Congress to pass the
Fugitive Slave Act.
In future, any federal marshal who did not arrest an alleged runaway
slave could be fined $1,000. Any person aiding a runaway slave by
providing shelter, food or any other form of assistance was liable
to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
(1)
Henry Clay Bruce,
Twenty-Nine Years a Slave (1895)
During
the summer, in Virginia and other southern states, slaves when threatened
or after punishment would escape to the woods or some other hiding
place. They were then called runaways, or runaway Negroes, and when
not caught would stay away from home until driven back by cold weather.
Usually they would go to some other part of the state, where they
were not so well known, and a few who had the moral courage would
make their way to the North, and thus gain their freedom. But such
cases were rare. Some, if captured and not wishing to go back to their
masters, would neither give their correct name nor that of their owner;
and in such cases, if the master had not seen the notice of sale posted
by the officers of the county wherein they were captured, and which
usually gave the runaway's personal description, they were sold to
the highest bidders, and their masters lost them and the county in
which the capture was effected got the proceeds, less the expense
of capture. A runaway often chose that course in order to get out
of the hands of a hard master, thinking that he could not do worse
in any event, while he might fall into the hands of a better master.
Often they were bought by Negro traders for the cotton fields of the
South.
(2)
Advert in the Alabama Beacon (14th June, 1845)
Ranaway, on the 15th of May, from me, a negro
woman named Fanny. Said woman is twenty years old; is rather tall,
can read and write, and so forge passes for herself. Carried away
with her a pair of ear-rings, a Bible with a red cover, is very pious.
She prays a great deal, and was, as supposed, contented and happy.
She is as white as most white women, with straight light hair, and
blue eyes, and can pass herself for a white woman. I will give five
hundred dollars for her apprehension and delivery to me. She is very
intelligent.
(3)
Advertisement, New Orleans Commercial Bulletin (30th September,
1845)
Ten dollars reward. Ranaway from the subscribers, on the 15th of last
month, the negro man Charles, about 45 years of age, 5 feet 6 inches
high; red complexion, has had the upper lid of his right eye torn,
and a scar on his forehead; speaks English only, and stutters when
spoken to; he had on when he left, an iron collar, the prongs of which
he broke off before absconding. The above reward will be paid for
the arrest of said slave.
(4)
Advertisement, Richmond
Whig (6th January, 1836)
$100 reward - Will be given for the apprehension of my negro Edmund
Kenney. He has straight hair, and complexion so nearly white, that
it is believed a stranger would suppose there was no African blood
in him. He was with my boy Dick a short time since in Norfolk, and
offered him for sale, and was apprehended, but escaped under pretence
of being a white man. Anderson Bowles.
(5)
Advertisement, Madison Journal (26th November, 1847)
James
W. Hall, living on Carroway Lake, on Hoe's Bayou, in Carroll Parish,
sixteen miles on the road leading from Bayou Mason to Lake Providence,
is ready with a pack of dogs to hunt runaway negroes at any time.
These dogs are well trained, and are known throughout the parish.
My terms are five dollars per day for hunting the trails, whether
the negro is caught or not. Where a twelve hours' trail is shown and
the negro not taken, no charge is made. For taking a negro, twenty-five
dollars, and no charge made for hunting.
(6)
In August 1841 Lewis
Clarke managed to escape from slavery. He recorded his thoughts
in his book Narrative
of the Sufferings of Lewis Clark (1845)
I saddled my pony, went into the
cellar where I kept my grass seed apparatus, put my clothes into a
pair of saddlebags, and them into my seed-bag, and thus equipped set
sail for the North Star. What a day was that to me. This was on Saturday,
in August, 1841. I wore my common clothes, and was very careful to
avoid special suspicion, as I already imagined the administrator was
very watchful of me. The place from which I started was about fifty
miles from Lexington. The reason why I do not give the name of the
place, and a more accurate location, must be obvious to any one who
remembers that in the eye of the law I am yet accounted a slave, and
no spot in the United States affords an asylum for the wanderer. True,
I feel protected in the hearts of the many warm friends of the slave
by whom I am surrounded, but this protection does not come from the
laws of any one of the United States.
Monday
morning, bright and early, I set my face in good earnest toward the
Ohio River, determined to see and tread the north bank of it, or die
in the attempt. I said to myself, one of two things, freedom or death.
The first night I reached Mayslick, fifty odd miles from Lexington.
Just before reaching this village, I stopped to think over my situation,
and determine how I would pass that night. On that night hung all
my hopes. I was within twenty miles of Ohio. My horse was unable to
reach the river that night. And besides, to travel and attempt to
cross the river in the night, would excite suspicion. I must spend
the night there. But how? At one time, I thought, I will take my pony
out into the field ,and give him some corn, and sleep myself on the
grass. But then the dogs will be out in the evening, and if caught
under such circumstances, they will take me for a thief if not for
a runaway. That will not do. So after weighing the matter all over,
I made a plunge right into the heart of the village, and put up at
the tavern.
After seeing my pony disposed of, I looked into the barroom, and saw
some persons that I thought were from my part of the country, and
would know me. I shrunk back with horror. What to do I did not know.
I looked across the street, and saw the shop of a silversmith. A thought
of a pair of spectacles, to hide my face, struck me. I went across
the way, and began to barter for a pair of double eyed green spectacles.
When I got them on, they blind-folded me, if they did not others.
Every thing seemed right up in my eyes. I hobbled back to the tavern,
and called for supper. This I did to avoid notice, for I felt like
any thing but eating. At tea I had not learned to measure distances
with my new eyes, and the first pass I made with my knife and fork
at my plate, went right into my cup. This confused me still more,
and, after drinking one cup of tea, I left the table, and got off
to bed as soon as possible. But not a wink of sleep that night. All
was confusion, dreams, anxiety and trembling.
(7)
William Box Brown,
Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown (1851)
I was well acquainted with a store-keeper in
the city of Richmond, from whom I used to purchase my provisions;
and having formed a favourable opinion of his integrity, one day in
the course of a little conversation with him, I said to him if I were
free I would be able to do business such as he was doing; he then
told me that my occupation (a tobacconist) was a money-making one,
and if I were free I had no need to change for another. I then told
him my circumstances in regard to my master, having to pay him 25
dollars per month, and yet that he refused to assist me in saving
my wife from being sold and taken away to the South, where I should
never see her again. I told him this took place about five months
ago, and I had been meditating my escape from slavery since, and asked
him, as no person was near us, if he could give me any information
about how I should proceed. I told him I had a little money and if
he would assist me I would pay him for so doing.
The man asked me if I was not afraid to speak that way to him; I said
no, for I imagined he believed that every man had a right to liberty.
He said I was quite right, and asked me how much money I would give
him if he would assist me to get away. I told him that I had $I66
and that I would give him the half; so we ultimately agreed that I
should have his service in the attempt for $86. Now I only wanted
to fix upon a plan. He told me of several plans by which others had
managed to effect their escape, but none of them exactly suited my
taste.
One day, while I was at work when the idea suddenly flashed across
my mind of shutting myself up in a box, and getting myself conveyed
as dry goods to a free state.
(8)
In his book, Narrative of the Life of
Henry Box Brown , William
Box Brown
described his journey in his box.
The next place at which we arrived was the city of Washington, where
I was taken from the steam-boat, and again placed upon a waggon and
carried to the depôt right side up with care; but when the driver
arrived at the depôt I heard him call for some person to help
to take the box off the waggon, and some one answered him to the effect
that he might throw it off; but, says the driver, it is marked "this
side up with care;" so if I throw it off I might break something,
the other answered him that it did not matter if he broke all that
was in it, the railway company were able enough to pay for it. No
sooner were these words spoken than I began to tumble from the waggon,
and falling on the end where my head was, I could bear my neck give
a crack, as if it had been snapped asunder and I was knocked completely
insensible.
The first thing I heard after that, was some person saying, "there
is no room for the box, it will have to remain and be sent through
to-morrow with the luggage train; but the Lord had not quite forsaken
me, for in answer to my earnest prayer He so ordered affairs that
I should not be left behind; and I now heard a man say that the box
had come with the express, and it must be sent on. I was then tumbled
into the car with my head downwards again, but the car had not proceeded
far before, more luggage having to be taken in, my box got shifted
about and so happened to turn upon its right side; and in this position
I remained till I got to Philadelphia, of our arrival in which place
I was informed by hearing some person say, "We are in port and
at Philadelphia." My heart then leaped for joy, and I wondered
if any person knew that such a box was there.
Here it may be proper to observe that the man who had promised to
accompany my box failed to do what he promised; but, to prevent it
remaining long at the station after its arrival, he sent a telegraphic
message to his friend, and I was only twenty seven hours in the box,
though travelling a distance of three hundred and fifty miles.
I was now placed in the depôt amongst the other luggage, where
I lay till seven o'clock at which time a waggon drove up, and I heard
a person inquire for such a box as that in which I was. I was then
placed on a waggon and conveyed to the house where my friend in Richmond
had arranged I should be received.
A number of persons soon collected round the box after it was taken
in to the house, but as I did not know what was going on I kept myself
quiet. I heard a man say, "let us rap upon the box and see if
he is alive" and immediately a rap ensued and a voice said, tremblingly,
"Is all right within?" to which I replied - "all right."
The joy of the friends was very great;
when they heard that I was alive they soon managed to break open the
box, and then came my resurrection from the grave of slavery. I rose
a freeman, but I was too weak, by reason of long confinement in that
box, to be able to stand, so I immediately swooned away. After my
recovery from the swoon the first thing, which arrested my attention,
was the presence of a number of friends, every one seeming more anxious
than another, to have an opportunity of rendering me their assistance,
and of bidding me a hearty welcome to the possession of my natural
rights, I had risen as it were from the dead.
(9)
Moses Grandy, Life
of a Slave (1843)
I am glad to say also, that numbers of my coloured brethren now escape
from slavery; some by purchasing their freedom, others by quitting,
through many dangers and hardships, the land of bondage. The latter
suffer many privations in their attempts to reach the free states.
They hide themselves during the day in the woods and swamps; at night
they travel, crossing rivers by swimming, or by boats they may chance
to meet with, and passing over hills and meadows which they do not
know; in these dangerous journeys they are guided by the north-star,
for they only know that the land of freedom is in the north. They
subsist on such wild fruit as they can gather, and as they are often
very long on their way, they reach the free states almost like skeletons.
On their arrival, they have no friends but such as pity those who
have been in bondage, the number of which, I am happy to say, is increasing;
but if they can meet with a man in a broad-brimmed hat and Quaker
coat, they speak to him without fear-relying on him as a friend. At
each place the escaped slave inquires for an abolitionist or a Quaker,
and these friends of the coloured man help them on their journey northwards,
until they are out of the reach of danger.
(10)
Francis
Fredric, Fifty Years of Slavery (1863)
I had been flogged for going to a prayer-meeting, and, before my back
was well, my master was going to whip me again. I determined, therefore,
to run away. It was in the morning, just after my master had got his
breakfast, I was ordered to the back of the premises to strip. My
master had got the thong of raw cow's-hide; when off I ran, towards
the swamp.
He saw me running, and instantly called three bloodhounds, kept for
the purpose, and put them on my track. I saw them coming up to me,
when, turning round to them, I clapped my hands, and called them by
name; for I had been in the habit of feeding them. I urged them on,
as if in pursuit of something else. They instantly passed me, and
flew upon the cattle. I saw my master calling them off, and returning.
No doubt, he perceived it was useless to pursue me, with dogs which
knew me so well.
I now hurried on further, into a dismal swamp, named the Bear's Wallow;
and, at last, wearied and exhausted, I sat down at the foot of a tree,
to rest, and think what had best be done. I knelt down, and prayed
earnestly to the Almighty, to protect and direct me what to do. I
rose from my knees, and looked stealthily around, afraid that the
dogs and men were still in pursuit. I listened, and listened again,
to the slightest sound, made by the flapping of the wings of a bird,
or the rustling of the wild animals among the underwood; and then
proceeded further into the swamp. My path was interrupted, every now
and then, by large sheets of stagnant, putrid, green-looking water,
from which a most sickening, fetid smell arose; the birds, in their
flight, turning away from it. The snakes crawled sluggishly across
the ground, for it was autumn time, when, it is said, they are surcharged
with their deadly poison.
When awake in the morning, I tried to plan out some way of escape,
over the Ohio River, which I knew was about thirty miles from where
I was. But I could not swim; and I was well aware that my master would
set a watch upon every ferry or ford, and that the whole country would
be put on the alert, to catch me; for the planters, for self-protection,
take almost as much interest in capturing another man's slaves, as
they do their own.
At length, driven by hunger and desperation, I approached the edge
of the swamp; when I was startled by seeing a young woman ploughing.
I knew her, and called her by name. She was frightened, and shocked
at my appearance - worn, from hunger, almost to a skeleton; and haggard,
from the want of sound sleep. I begged of her to go to get me something
to eat. She, at first, expressed her fears, and began to tell me of
the efforts which my master was making to capture me. He had offered
$500 reward - had placed a watch all along the Ohio River - had informed
all the neighbouring planters, who had cautioned all their slaves
not to give me any food or other assistance, and he had made it known,
that, when I should be caught, he would give me a thousand lashes.
The woman went, and fetched me about two ounces of bread, of which
I eat a small portion, wishing to keep the rest to eat in the swamp,
husbanding it, as much as possible. When she told me that I should
receive a thousand lashes, I felt horrified, and wept bitterly. The
girl wept also. I had seen a slave, who had escaped to the Northern
States, and, after an absence of four years, had been brought back
again, and flogged, in the presence of all the slaves, assembled from
the neighbouring plantations. His body was frightfully lacerated.
I went to see him, two or three weeks after the flogging. When they
were anointing his back, his screams were awful. He died, soon afterwards--a
tall, fine young fellow, six feet high, in the prime of life, thus
brutally murdered.
(11)
Moses Roper made several attempts trying
to escape from his master. He wrote about the punishment he received
in Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper (1838)
Mr.
Gooch then obtained the assistance of another slave-holder, and tied
me up in his blacksmith's shop, and gave me fifty lashes with a cow-hide.
He then put a long chain, weighing twenty-five pounds, round my neck,
and sent me into a field, into which he followed me with the cow-hide,
intending to set his slaves to flog me again.
He then chained me down in a log-pen with a 40 lb. chain, and made
me lie on the damp earth all night. In the morning after his breakfast
he came to me, and without giving me any breakfast, tied me to a large
heavy barrow, which is usually drawn by a horse, and made me drag
it to the cotton field for the horse to use in the field. Thus, the
reader will see, that it was of no possible use to my master to make
me drag it to the field, and not through it; his cruelty went so far
as actually to make me the slave of his horse, and thus to degrade
me.
Mr. Gooch had a female slave about eighteen years old, who also had
been a domestic slave, and through not being able to fulfill her task,
had run away; which slave he was at this time punishing for that offence.
On the third day, he chained me to this female slave, with a large
chain of 40 lbs. weight round the neck. It was most harrowing to my
feelings thus to be chained to a young female slave, for whom I would
rather have suffered a hundred lashes than she should have been thus
treated. He kept me chained to her during the week, and repeatedly
flogged us both while thus chained together, and forced us to keep
up with the other slaves, although retarded by the heavy weight of
the log-chain.
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