Runaway Slaves —— Rebels on the Plantation

In order to fully appreciate this book you must clearly understand the purpose. Failure to do so will probably result in a disappointing experience. The focal point of Runaway Slaves is, "slave flight." Not the organized rebellions of a Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey or a Gabriel Prosser that readers may be familiar with, but the everyday individual resistance perpetrated by thousands despite the punishment and attendant violence. So what you get is an examination of the slave system as told through the many examples of those who absconded. Some for days, others for weeks and months. It is not a book about the planning of escapes and what happened to the individuals who escaped, the book paints the picture of how abhorrent a system of bondage is. It also explodes the myth of a happy plantation system and contented "slaves." Even in the face of the most horrific corrections, the absconding continued and the discontent remained extremely high. What becomes extremely clear is the profits involved in the trafficking of human beings was apparently worth all the trouble that plantation owners went through. Runaways were a cost of doing business that many southerners tried to hide from the larger public. The obvious reason for this was to keep the lie of happy and contented bondsmen and bondswomen alive. "Masters were forced to explain how 'contented' and 'well cared' servants abandoned them in such large numbers."Although the stories of absconders are told in paragraphs and sometimes mere sentences the courage and boldness that African people displayed is simply amazing. Every African-American should be proud of how our ancestors were committed to freedom under the most heinous conditions. Never again should you believe in the docility of "slaves" as a whole. The use of notices of runaways and petitions to legislatures and county courts was a brilliant deployment of sources. These two sources "provide a number of unique strengths. Masters who advertised for a return of their property had little reason to misinform their readers and every reason to be as precise as possible." The takeaway for the reader is the information and inspiration you will receive from the story of consistent and constant resistance to slavery in this book. You will also have a great resource for any other reading you may want to do in the area of slavery and resistance to bondage.

Boring although it has a lot of stories from actual slaves.

I recently did a program on the Underground Railroad, especially in my State of Vermont. This is a valuable addition to my library on the subject and will be used as a reference in the future. It is an interesting read for anyone interested in the subject matter, and the past history and lives of African Americans.

Exactly as described. Arrived in a timely manner.

This book offers an excellent overview of the runaway slave, where they went, why they went, how they were captured. I discovered a new view of slavery that I hadn't considered before. Rather than assuming that runaways simply headed for the river and north I discovered many stayed close to home where they had families and support systems. Very few actually ended up in the free states or Canada. The book uses a huge variety of original source material and has excellent end notes.

Classic, in-depth work.

From the author of college level Black History.

I suppose by definition, there's only so many ways to say that slaves were treated lousy. Still, hearing the same story told in different ways for ten pages got tiring. Let me add that I did read the entire book; this was more an observation about the fact that the same story was told repeatedly without--I felt--more analysis and perspective. And, at that, you might note that I still gave it three stars. I respect the topic and the research. I did not think that the product which resulted adequately reflected those.

In order to fully appreciate this book you must clearly understand the purpose. Failure to do so will probably result in a disappointing experience. The focal point of Runaway Slaves is, "slave flight." Not the organized rebellions of a Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey or a Gabriel Prosser that readers may be familiar with, but the everyday individual resistance perpetrated by thousands despite the punishment and attendant violence.So what you get is an examination of the slave system as told through the many examples of those who absconded. Some for days, others for weeks and months. It is not a book about the planning of escapes and what happened to the individuals who escaped, the book paints the picture of how abhorrent a system of bondage is. It also explodes the myth of a happy plantation system and contented "slaves."Even in the face of the most horrific corrections, the absconding continued and the discontent remained extremely high. What becomes extremely clear is the profits involved in the trafficking of human beings was apparently worth all the trouble that plantation owners went through. Runaways were a cost of doing business that many southerners tried to hide from the larger public. The obvious reason for this was to keep the lie of happy and contented bondsmen and bondswomen alive."Masters were forced to explain how 'contented' and 'well cared' servants abandoned them in such large numbers."Although the stories of absconders are told in paragraphs and sometimes mere sentences the courage and boldness that African people displayed is simply amazing. Every African-American should be proud of how our ancestors were committed to freedom under the most heinous conditions. Never again should you believe in the docility of "slaves" as a whole.The use of notices of runaways and petitions to legislatures and county courts was a brilliant deployment of sources. These two sources "provide a number of unique strengths. Masters who advertised for a return of their property had little reason to misinform their readers and every reason to be as precise as possible."The takeaway for the reader is the information and inspiration you will receive from the story of consistent and constant resistance to slavery in this book. You will also have a great resource for any other reading you may want to do in the area of slavery and resistance to bondage.

I recently did a program on the Underground Railroad, especially in my State of Vermont. This is a valuable addition to my library on the subject and will be used as a reference in the future. It is an interesting read for anyone interested in the subject matter, and the past history and lives of African Americans.

This book offers an excellent overview of the runaway slave, where they went, why they went, how they were captured. I discovered a new view of slavery that I hadn't considered before. Rather than assuming that runaways simply headed for the river and north I discovered many stayed close to home where they had families and support systems. Very few actually ended up in the free states or Canada. The book uses a huge variety of original source material and has excellent end notes.

I suppose by definition, there's only so many ways to say that slaves were treated lousy. Still, hearing the same story told in different ways for ten pages got tiring. Let me add that I did read the entire book; this was more an observation about the fact that the same story was told repeatedly without--I felt--more analysis and perspective. And, at that, you might note that I still gave it three stars. I respect the topic and the research. I did not think that the product which resulted adequately reflected those.