Miles to freedom: the dramatic escape of William and Ellen Craft.

In 1848, William and Ellen Craft decided that they would rather risk death than live in slavery. This story is based on Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, William's account of their escape

William and Ellen Craft met in Macon, Georgia, in the 1840s. Like other African-Americans in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) South, they lived under the harsh conditions of slavery.

Ellen was the daughter of a white lawyer and his black slave. In the South, her mixed blood and light skin afforded her no special treatment. She was separated from her mother and sold to another family.

Although William and Ellen lived as slaves, they were allowed to marry. While working for a white family in Macon, they decided to risk their lives for freedom.

In the months before Christmas of 1848, the Crafts planned their escape. Ellen, who was then 22, would disguise herself as a white man. William, her 24-year-old husband, would pose as her slave.

Since no white woman would travel with a male slave, Ellen had to pretend that she was a man. She would say that she needed medical treatment up North. The Crafts decided to travel to Philadelphia, in the free state of Pennsylvania.

It was a dangerous plan. If caught, the husband and wife could be beaten or killed, and would surely be separated forever.

"A Desperate Leap"

To help disguise Ellen, William bought her dark green eyeglasses and a tall beaver hat. She sewed herself a pair of men's trousers and wrapped a bandage around her head to hide her soft, beardless face.

But there was a problem. William and Ellen were illiterate, because it was illegal for anyone to teach a slave to read. What if someone asked Ellen to sign a hotel register or other document? This could put her in grave danger. To avoid having to write, Ellen would wear a sling on her arm.

Just days before Christmas, William cut Ellen's long hair. They were finally ready to leave, having gotten a special pass from their owners for the holiday. No one knew that they did not plan to return.

The morning of their departure, William opened the door to their cabin and whispered to his wife. "Come, my dear," he said. "Let us make a desperate leap for liberty."

At first, Ellen shrank back in sobs, overwhelmed by the dangers they were about to face. But she quickly steadied herself.

The journey almost ended before it began. A white man who had known Ellen her whole life sat beside her on a train to Savannah, Georgia.

"It is a very fine morning, sir, isn't it?" the man said to Ellen. Would she be discovered if she answered?

Ellen hoped that the man would think she was deaf. Finally, she decided to answer his questions, softly and briefly. He didn't suspect a thing.

The couple traveled by train and steamer (ship), facing one close call after another. When Ellen was asked to sign a document proving that William was her slave, another passenger came forward to help her.

But there was one more obstacle. On Christmas Eve, as they boarded the train for the final leg of their journey--from Baltimore, Maryland, to Philadelphia--a railroad officer stopped William.

"Where are you going?"

"To Philadelphia, sir," William replied. "I'm with my master."

"You have to get approval first."

William and Ellen were terrified. Then Ellen had an idea. Rather than show fear, she would demand respect, something a slave could never do.

"I bought tickets all the way to Philadelphia," she said angrily. "You have no right to detain [hold back or keep] us!"

At that moment, the train's whistle blew. The officer gave up, and the Crafts took their seats.

It was Christmas Day when they finally arrived in Philadelphia. "Thank God," Ellen exclaimed. "We are safe!"

The Crafts' story did not end there. They joined an abolitionist movement and gave speeches about their escape. Slave catchers began to pursue them everywhere.

Under the fugitive slave laws, if the Crafts were caught, they could be returned to the family in Georgia that still claimed them as their property. So the couple fled to England.

After the Civil War ended, in 1865, they returned to Georgia to help former slaves. They became known everywhere for their daring escape.

Words to Know

* abolitionists; reformers who favored an end to slavery.

* fugitive: someone who is running away or trying to escape.

* illiterate: unable to read or write.

Your Turn

THINK ABOUT IT

What is one of the bravest things you have ever done? What inspired you to act the way you did?

* OBJECTIVE

Students should understand

* the courage and invention it took for slaves to attempt escape.

* BACKGROUND

* The fugitive slave laws were acts passed by Congress in 1793 and 1850. The first gave judges the authority to return escapees to their masters, without a jury trial or other claim of rights by the slave. The second enforced the earlier law and imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped a slave escape.

* Ellen and William Craft could not pose as a white woman and her slave because, in those days, a white woman would never have traveled on her own with a black man. In fact, most white women would not have traveled on their own--without a father, husband, brother, or other chaperone.

* CRITICAL THINKING

RECALLING DETAILS: How did the Crafts make Ellen look like a white man? (William bought her dark glasses, a tall hat, and cut her hair; Ellen made herself a pair of men's trousers, and put a bandage around her face to hide her smooth, beardless skin.)

MAKING CONNECTIONS: Why did the Crafts go to England after they had already made it to a free state? (Under U.S. fugitive slave laws, if they were captured--even in Northern free states--they could still be returned to their owner.)

* ACTIVITY

STORY TIME: Have students read a slave narrative or story of another real slave's escape. (For examples, see the Fradin book at right, or the North American Slave Narratives site at docsouth.unc.edu/neh.) Then have them pretend to be that slave, and tell his or her story to the rest of the class.

STANDARD

SOCIAL STUDIES, GRADES 5-8

* Individuals, groups, and institutions: How two people escaped from slavery.

* Civic ideals and practices: How slavery limited the lives of African-Americans.

RESOURCES

PRINT

* Fradin, Dennis Brindell, Bound for the North Star: True Stories of Fugitive Slaves (Houghlon Mifflin, 2000). Grades 6 & up.

* Lemke, Donald B., The Brave Escape of Ellen and William Craft (Capstone Press, 2005). Grades 4-7.

WEB SITES

* Ellen Craft reenactment (online video) forum.wgbh.org/wgbh/forum.php?lecture_id=1772

* New Georgia Encyclopedia www.georgiaencyclopedia.org (Enter "craft" in the SEARCH box.)

* Decide whether each sentence is true, false, or an opinion. Write your answer on the blank line provided.

--. 11. Slaves should have been taught to read and write.

12. Ellen Craft wore a bandage on her head to hide the fact that her hair was long.

-- 13. Ellen and William Craft traveled north by steamer boat as well as train.

-- 14. Under the fugitive slave laws, the Crafts were protected from harm once they reached the North.

-- 15. The Crafts should not have been returned to their owner.

11. opinion

12. false (that her face was smooth and beardless)

13. true

14. false (If caught, they could be returned to their owner.)

15. opinion

1. True or False?Ellen Craft disguised herself as a white man to escape from slavery. (true)

2. What did Montgomery blacks start doing after Rosa Parks's arrest on a city bus? (boycotting the buses)

3. What did Lewis and Clark reach in November 1805? (the Pacific Ocean)

4. What was the Corps of Discovery? (exploration team led by Lewis and Clark)

5. Regulations that enforced racial separation and unequal treatment in the South were called what? (Jim Crow laws)

6. To which free state did Ellen and William Craft escape in 1848? (Pennsylvania)