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• 1 2021-12-01T18:27:50+00:00 Absconding-Escape and the Risks 1 plain 2021-12-01T18:27:50+00:00

  White Duty and Responsibility.

  For blacks, nearly all whites represented potential capturers. In truth, even though slave patrols and the sheriff had direct responsibility for capturing slaves, it was a white community's duty and responsibility. This was even more a reality in light of the 1793 and 1850 fugitive slave laws.

  It was the duty of the white public to capture escaped enslaved people. One historian found that some citizens took their private duties very seriously. "John Buford of New Hanover County and Francis Jones of Beaufort County captured runaways and duly advertised in the press." 
  
  

  Patrols.

  Enslaved people did not have much support beyond the black community and had to be very careful in trusting any unfamiliar individual, no matter whether they were black or white.

  Freedom seekers had no choice but to account for slave patrols, in particular, after 1830. They would have to account for patrols, "by 1835, the slave patrol in North Carolina had become the symbol of the day to day control and discipline of the slave population."

  Enslaved people had adapted to the majority of the routine searches. They had warning systems and created secret places inside and outside of the home for hidden items. Moreover, the patrols' and searchers' effectiveness is debatable. However, their presence certainly made a difference in the thoughts of the enslaved people seeking to travel at night or secret items or business endeavors. The effectiveness of enslaved people's ability to move around and avoid patrols shows up in maroon activity. See the petition for example HERE and HERE

  Although freedom seekers may have been familiar with the pattern of patrols in the area where they lived, once in unfamiliar areas, enslaved persons would have to either learn the patterns on the fly or find help and information. This is because the "effectiveness of patrol varied from community to community, and from county to county. In some communities, the patrol was powerful and effective, while it was weak and ineffective." As Dr. Parker notes, freedom seekers had to remain vigilant in their escape. Yet, despite the risk of patrols, "[patrols] did not completely stymie the ability of slaves to assert their humanity, nor did it crush their desire for freedom, or totally restrict their movement." 

  Death.

  Freedom seekers risked death at every stage in the process of escape. Many who had to escape immediately because of a clear and present threat did not always make it off the plantation. Several were shot and some were shot and killed before the escape. For example, one enslaved plantation on the Swan plantation, who was suspected of taking a pig, attempted to flee punishment when he was ordered to discuss the theft from the fields. While in the fields, he dropped his hoe and headed for the woods, and the overseer loaded a duck shot and stopped his attempt. He did not die, but he still had "twenty-six duck shots remaining in his flesh" following a physician's visit and six weeks of recovery.
  While off the plantation, freedom seekers were often pursued by men with guns and vicious dogs. When caught, there was little one could do other than endure punishment. Nevertheless, sometimes the desperation helped the freedom seeker to fight the captors despite the odds. For example, one freedom seeker in Richmond county was ambushed by several men waiting for him in the night. After fighting off the ambushers many times with a club, he was shot and killed. 

  Risks also included being outlawed. The law of outlawing meant that the freedom seeker was deemed a danger or menace to society, and it was "lawful for any person or persons whatsoever to kill and destroy such slaves or slaves, by such ways and means as he shall think fit, without accusation or impeachment of any crime for the same." It was not possible or desirable for slaveholders to lose a laborer; therefore, slaveholders counted on patrols to find and secure enslaved persons. However, sometimes slaveholders believed outlawing was the best threat to get the enslaved person to return hopefully. Example of outlaw runaway notice HERE

  Risk of Capture and Being Returned.

  While on the journey, many enslaved people were caught in other states and sometimes at ports of the desired destination. For example, one young woman who was escaping by the Wilmington port was caught in Boston after the vessel she traveled [stowawayed] was fumigated. She was forced to reveal herself. She was captured, and the Captain desired to send her back to slavery. Many were caught and sent back to slavery. See example HERE 

  Even those who made it to free territory were not safe. The record of freedom seekers across the national record is ripe with enslaved persons being taken from free states and Canada back to the South. In addition, freedom seekers were warned by newspapers and friends while in free territory not to drop their guard and be on the lookout. For example, the National Anti-slavery Standard on September 21, 1843, warned freedom seeker Henry of North Carolina that he was being tracked by a man named Wheeler from Salisbury, North Carolina. 

  The article noted that Wheeler planned to seek Henry out in northern Vermont and then seek him out in Montreal, Canada. If found in Canada, the newspaper warned that the bounty hunter would attempt to lure Henry back to the United States to legally capture him and return him to slavery in Virginia. 

  The newspaper also indirectly asked those who knew his whereabouts to anticipate a bribe but hope that no one would fall for the trap. The "man-hunter" offered money to anyone that could have found Henry, who formerly belonged to Mr. Pope of Salisbury. Mention of the bribe in the newspaper would have also alerted Henry to be on guard against all he did not know, white or black. Vermont is not typically a place known for the Underground Railroad or a haven for freedom-seeking; there is some history there. See HERE

  Sometimes the risk of runaways had to be accounted for by whites. Not only could they face retaliation by freedom seekers, but also the desperation of whites sometimes to regain their "property" caused them to take considerable risks. 

  As was the case in 1861 when George Bower of Ashe County. To retrieve a freedom seeker, he attempted to cross a swollen Yadkin River [rivers in the higher elevation are often faster and more dangerous]. Ignoring the advice of the enslaved carriage driver that the river was too swollen to ford, George ordered him to cross the river. "The current took the carriage with its single occupant far beyond the bank. Col. Bower was drowned, but the driver and horses escaped." 

  Fighting to Stay Away.

  There was always a risk of being caught, but some enslaved people were desperate to get away or not be caught and would do whatever it took to stay away. Sometimes that desperation led to incredible feats, and sometimes, it led to the killing of potential captors. 

  In 1860, John Chapman sought to apprehend an enslaved runaway and the leader of a maroon community named Ben Soon. Along with two other men, Chapman found the camp where Ben and other freedom seekers were hiding. They were near Soon's mother's home in the area of New Bern. However, Ben was armed, and as the men tried to capture him, Ben shot John in the chest and killed him. The other two men that were with Chapman fled. The newspaper reported that the freedom seeker, Ben Soon, was of "a very bad character who has been away for several years." Ben Soon was a famous maroon in the area of New Bern, North Carolina. Following the death of John Chapman, several newspapers advertised a $400 reward to find Ben Soon and his gang. Ben Soon's Notice 

  Another case of death and self-defense occurred in Carteret county when Amos Small was killed by a freedom seeker named Daniel. Daniel had been absconding for some time before the incident. Daniel was caught at Harlow's Creek, Carteret county, and committed to the care of Amos Small, who was to take Daniel to the town of Beaufort. Daniel killed Small to continue his escape. However, he was eventually recaptured and jailed. 
  
  The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper, had this to say about Daniel and freedom seekers killing captives, 

  "who, in self-defense, and to free himself from the clutch of a kidnapper, laid the wretch dead at his feet! Why not 'the heroic slave,' or 'the patriotic slave?' What say the opponents of 'non-resistance' respecting this affair? If ever a man was justified in taking the life of his merciless enemy, was not this slave? He could hope for no redress, no protection, from the laws of his country...had he been a white American...his name would have been celebrated in immortal verse, and monuments erected to perpetuate his memory. But being nothing but 'a nigger,' he of course deserves to be hanged by a republican and Christian people!" 

  For another example of an incredible feat, one enslaved person, a stowaway, on a vessel called The Brig, William Purrington, was caught aboard on the coast of North Carolina. The Captain wanted to return the freedom seeker to Wilmington but could not do so because of strong winds. The Captain was forced to dock in the Boston Harbor, and the freedom seeker was forced into the bottom of the ship and held captive there until the Captain could find a place to jail and get the enslaved person back into the South. However, the freedom seeker escaped this plight by jumping overboard into the freezing water with a wood plank, hoping to swim ashore. Eventually, he was rescued by a "passing sloop, which took him on board and brought him up to the city." After arriving in the city, he was cared for by his friends, who had to help warm his frozen hands and feet. Not long after, necessary preparations were made so that he could reach Canada.

  One freedom seeker, who had absented himself for seven years, was caught in 1860. Belonging to a slave-trading firm, he was taken out of jail and on a train to Richmond, Virginia, most likely to be sold to the deep south. While a few miles out from the city, it was recorded that while the train slowed but still moved at a rate of 25 miles an hour, the freedom seeker opened a side window and jumped out. Although the captors did not initially think he would survive, some later claimed to have witnessed the freedom-seeking man walking on the railroad after his escape. As a result, a reward of $500 dollars was issued for his capture.

  Environmental Dangers.

  Environmental dangers were always apparent for the enslaved as a part of the risk of fleeing. Some of the hideouts enslaved people chose were also very dangerous. When North Carolina was a colony, the Great Dismal Swamp was a famous hideout for runaways and other outlaws. 

  Nonetheless, swamps were dangerous, as they housed mosquitoes, yellow flies, panthers [hunted and extinct], bears, alligators, and venomous snakes. At 38 years of age, Daniel Carr, in a third escape attempt, fled to the swamp, where he dwelt for three months. He notes that he was "surrounded with wild animals and reptiles."

  Similarly, Harriet Jacobs noted that she had come to fear snakes during many attempts at running away after being bit by a venomous snake while hiding in the woods. She had to deal with her fear of snakes when she was forced to hide in a place called the "snaky swamp." There she faced mosquitoes and snakes in great quantities.

  Harriet noted:

  "Before we reached [hiding place in the swamp], we were covered with hundreds of mosquitos. In an hour's time they had so poisoned my flesh that I was a pitiful sight to behold. As the light increased, I saw snake after snake crawling round us. I had been accustomed to the sight of snakes all my life, but these were larger than any I had ever seen. To this day I shudder when I remember that morning. As evening approached, the number of snakes increased so much that we were continually obliged to thrash them with sticks to keep them from crawling over us."

  In more western parts of the state, freedom seekers during the colonial period would have to encounter Carolina panthers or cougars, bison, wolves, and severe cold in the winter months. When passing through North Carolina in his trek to free territory, Charles Ball noted he had a hard time in Western North Carolina in the winter months. After running out of food, he attempted to cross a freezing Yadkin river and was swept away by a rock, thereby believing he was going to die. The dangers of the currents in the upper regions of the state were also very dangerous.

  He noted that while trying to cross the river, he was:

  "Wholly unable to contend with the fury of the waves, and penetrated by the coldness of death, in my most vitals. I gave myself up for lost, and was commending my soul to God, whom I expected to be my immediate judge." Ball did not die, seconds after believing he would die, he was able to cling to a tree hanging over the water and pull himself out of the river."

  Despite the dangers of the environment, enslaved people remarked more than once that nothing was more terrifying than men who sought to keep them in bondage. Jacobs noted that the environment, in particular, the venomous snakes, "were less dreadful to my imagination than the white men in the community called civilized."

  Help and Aid

  Freedom seeking was typically an individual event. The onus was on the individual enslaved person to ponder the benefits and weigh the risks of absconding. Although absconding was an individual action, it was always a group effort. 

  Running away was not without help from those outside the black community. Native Americans, even though they varied according to ethnic groups, helped runaways. For instance, one white politician in the early eighteenth century noted how enslaved runaways were helped by Tuscaroras, noting, "Several slaves have made their escape and very probably were sheltered and protected by the Tuscarora Indians, in North Carolina Government, which has very evil tendencies…"

  Some enslaved persons were so heavily involved with the Tuscaroras that they fought alongside them during the Tuscaroras wars. In fact, after the Tuscarora defeat, one black, who seemed to be instrumental to the war but a particular problem to the English, noted that he was commanded to be handed over by the Tuscarora. They agreed, and he was cut into pieces. 
  Historian Wilma Dunaway noted in the mountain area that "slaves disappeared into Cherokee nation so frequently during the colonial period that the British included their [return of runaways] as one of the conditions of every major treaty with the Native Americans."

  It should be noted that some Native American groups became known as they tracked freedom seekers and received a reward for their return. Some groups were incentivized to return enslaved persons—"in 1763 whites agreed to pay Indians one musket and three blankets, the equivalent of thirty-five deerskins, for each black slave captured and returned." This increased as some groups began to embrace black slaves. In this case, enslaved people were sometimes used as political tools in the negotiations between Native Americans and Europeans. 

  Whites also helped enslaved runaways. Like some native American groups, but some white individuals and groups helped freedom seekers, albeit uncommonly. See a story map Routes to Freedom: Quaker Influence on the Underground Railroad

  The greatest support came from other blacks. Freedom seekers looked to other blacks to help them along the way. Enslaved and free Blacks aided freedom seekers in several ways, including but not limited to providing shelter, food, a welcoming environment, warning and vital information, rest and security, breaking out of jails if caught, and/or encouragement. 

  Many enslaved people who absconded and hid near a plantation had the direct assistance of enslaved people from the plantation of which they had fled or neighboring plantations. Not only did enslaved people leave food in a designated area or take food to hidden freedom seekers, but they also helped in the construction of hideouts and/or provided tools to help build temporary housing in the woods.

  It was common for enslaved people on plantations to know exactly where freedom seekers were secreted or could be secreted and kept secret. For instance, freedom seeker Harry stayed in the woods for about three months and was visited by other enslaved people at night and on Sundays. 

  Another example illustrates this, wherein William Jordan, who lived in the swamps and caves for ten months, noted that he had a friend who would bring him a meal and other things he needed to survive. His friends also kept him informed about opportunities to board a ship with a friendly captain to escape North.
  Slaveholders and patrollers knew that freedom seekers, who eluded being captured for years "could expect food, arms, shelter, and more from sedentary slave friends and strangers." Those who helped freedom seekers did so voluntarily, but often they perceived absconding as a collective action against slavery and specific slaveholders. 

  Aid also came in the way of maroon communities. Freedom seeker William Robinson noted that he fled after knocking out his slaveholder with an ax handle to shove his mother to the ground and kick her. He often heard ex-runaways slaves, men, and women narrate adventures of when they were in the woods and about their hiding places and rendezvous. He noted-

  "I heard it told so often at my father's fireside that I knew almost directly where they were…" Eventually, William was helped to the hiding place by an older black woman. He noted that the hiding place was in a "low swampy place back of thick canebrake. It was so dark and the cane so thick that I was afraid to venture when I got to the place where I had been directed to turn in. But as I stood there I imagined I could hear the baying of blood hounds, and so strong was the imagination that it drove me in. I had several things to fear, for that country was infested with bears. More than once I had seen a bear come out of a corn field with his arms full of corn, go up to the fence and throw it over, get over, pick it up like a man, and walk off. Then we had reptiles, such as water moccasins and rattle snakes. Sometimes I could walk upright, sometimes I was compelled to crawl through the cane. About three o'clock the next morning I came out of the cane brake on the banks of a large pond of almost stagnant water. I could see the rocky mound or cave that I had heard so much talk of."

  Escaping was challenging and, if seeking to make free geography, then that adventure could take months or even years in many cases. Enslaved people would have had to weigh the tremendous risks. The dangers of being away from home, potentially alone in rugged terrain, was a grim outlook. Such a reality was often an obstacle for many to fathom fleeing. Historians Cary and Kay noted, "Slaves who ran off to or formed maroon settlements best illustrate the importance of setting as well as the political dimensions of running away."