Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom [Hardcover]

William (Author), Ellen Craft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003

In 1848 William and Ellen Craft made one of the most daring and remarkable escapes in the history of slavery in America. With fair-skinned Ellen in the guise of a white male planter and William posing as her servant, the Crafts traveled by rail and ship--in plain sight and relative luxury--from bondage in Macon, Georgia, to freedom first in Philadelphia, then Boston, and ultimately England.

This edition of their thrilling story is newly typeset from the original 1860 text. Eleven annotated supplementary readings, drawn from a variety of contemporary sources, help to place the Crafts’ story within the complex cultural currents of transatlantic abolitionism.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom is the most significant fugitive slave narrative to come out of Georgia. I know of no other account that provides as riveting an account of an actual escape experience. It offers so much more in its treatment of gender and racial role-reversals, of husband-wife and master-slave relations, and of abolitionist activity on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line.”--Georgia Historical Quarterly

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

William Craft (1821-1900) and Ellen Craft (1826-1891) returned to the United States after the Civil War. For the rest of their lives, often at great personal risk, they worked to improve conditions for African Americans in the South. Barbara McCaskill is an associate professor of English at the University of Georgia and a founding editor of the journal Womanist Theory and Research.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: IndyPublish.com (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1404355928
• ISBN-13: 978-1404355927
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for American history students, November 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (Paperback)

Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom is a must read for all American history students and should be required reading at least at the high school level. This book gives the reader a first-person view of that "Peculiar Instition" known as slavery and to what lengths one will go to achieve personal freedom. This book will change your view of slavery forever.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, July 30, 2002

By 

"calico30" (Katy Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (Paperback)

I read this for a college history survey course before it was mistakenly announced that the book was out of print. The book was dropped from the syllabus, but I am glad I read it anyway.

The first and shortest part of the book is William Craft's powerful account of how he and his wife Ellen executed a daring escape from servitude in Georgia. Their plan was remarkable in its ingenuity: The almost white Ellen, outfitted with a master's clothes and a poultice on her face to prevent incriminating speech with strangers, and her husband William, disguised as a servant, escaped to freedom in the north. Travelling by rail, the pair exultantly crossed over into Canada and from thence headed for England.

The second part of the book is a third person summary of the couple's travels after their ambitious escape. It follows them from Georgia through the slave and free states, in which they were well received and protected (especially in Boston), up to Halifax and across the water to England. I found the final two thirds of the book the most enjoyable, as it treated of foreign travel, in which I have a keen interest. Both portions of the book are beautifully written and often gripping. I hope a few of my classmates read this before that announcement. This book is both pleasurable to read and historically vital.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Daring Escape to Freedom!!!, December 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (Paperback)

Ellen and William Craft were a young (mid-20's) slave couple who made a daring escape to freedom. Light-skinned Ellen cut her hair short and dressed in the suit and tophat of a white planter. Since she was illiterate, her husband William made a sling for her arm, so she had an excuse not to sign hotel registers. And since she had a womanly voice, the couple devised a poultice tied around her jaw indicating she had a bad toothache and could not speak. William played the role of his white massa's slave. And the couple traveled by train, steamship, and wagon to their destination in the north. They soon became popular lecturers in the United States and Europe. This is a remarkable story of daring and bravery and should be read by everyone. Anyone who wants to introduce their children to good historical fiction should get them The Journal of Darien Duff, an Emancipated Slave, The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo, and The Journal of Leroy Jones, a Fugitive Slave.