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CaliforniaPeggy

(157,004 posts)
Sun Mar 12, 2023, 07:05 PM Mar 2023

To understand the depth of slavery's depravity, it is necessary to learn about its roots. [View all]

I've recently finished reading a non-fiction book titled Master Slave Husband Wife which was written by Ilyon Woo.

It's the true story of a pair of married slaves from Georgia during their flight to freedom during the 1840's.

I was gripped by the many details of what slavery was like during that time, and how they risked everything to be free.

After many close calls, they did succeed.

I strongly urge anyone who's interested in the roots of the discrimination that still lives in our country today to read this book.



New York Times Bestseller

The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave.

In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North.

Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown.

But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher.

With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.

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Putting it on the list. Thank you. Just finished re-reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. Scrivener7 Mar 2023 #1
Great escape story! Kid Berwyn Mar 2023 #2
Thank you, Peggy wendyb-NC Mar 2023 #3
The history of slavery in the US is really quite disgusting GeoWilliam750 Mar 2023 #4
So long as that 30% are volunteering to be slaves. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2023 #11
Please share where you found 30% of Americans want to own another human being. nt Phoenix61 Mar 2023 #12
Possibly overstating GeoWilliam750 Mar 2023 #17
I think it was supposed to be sarcastic vanamonde Mar 2023 #18
For many married "Christain"women it is a reality. efhmc Mar 2023 #19
Thanks, Peggy. I plan to read it. But we'll need to restore the 'Underground Railroad' ... 70sEraVet Mar 2023 #5
Absolutely! Thank you. Are you surviving all the weather? 7wo7rees Mar 2023 #6
I'm reading this now. It is hard to fathom how much courage, intelligent japple Mar 2023 #7
I might just have to get that book...... groundloop Mar 2023 #8
For even a better and time relevant understanding. Tarzanrock Mar 2023 #9
When I finally got around to reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2023 #15
I've been recommending "They Were Her Property" to everybody I know. Extremely illuminating WhiskeyGrinder Mar 2023 #10
When you said the roots of slavery, I was expecting something a bit more... ancient. WarGamer Mar 2023 #13
Suggested reading: AverageOldGuy Mar 2023 #14
I had not heard of that book before. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2023 #16
Just tagged it at the online public library. Thanks! live love laugh Mar 2023 #20
Thank you very much. I just ordered it. judesedit Mar 2023 #21
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