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No greater suffering can one man place on another than to take away his freedom.

There is no doubt that the institution of slavery was (and still is) inhumane. It is intolerable that one man owns another. However, mass media and common misunderstandings about history have painted phantasms where few existed.

We have few reliable stories that illustrate exactly what happened to fugitive slaves who were captured. One that we do have is the story of Anthony Burns, a man who escaped from his owner, Charles Suttle, in 1854. Burns' case became nationally known when he was prosecuted in Boston, Massachusetts under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and returned to Suttle in Macon, Georgia. We also know that this is one of the cases that led eventually to the division of the country alone slaver and abolitionist lines.

What we also know is that Burns was not harmed during his capture, incarceration, or after his return. He was immediately sold to another owner in the Carolinas and had his freedom purchased. He returned shortly after to Boston.

While slavery was a heinous situation by today's standards, it is important to note that it was the economic standard of its time. For all intents and purposes, those enslaved were livestock. Of course it is inhumane to look at another person as being less than human, but the slaves, once here lived largely better than that of non-slave-owning subsistence farmers of the same time, and relatively few were mistreated. Pardon the metaphor, but a farmer who makes a living off the back of another is not likely to break that back.

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William and Ellen Craft are famous for their daring escape from slavery in the United States in 1848. The couple, who were enslaved in Georgia, used a clever disguise—Ellen posed as a white man and William as her enslaved servant—to travel over 1,000 miles to freedom in Philadelphia. Their story highlighted the injustices of slavery and garnered significant attention, contributing to the abolitionist movement. The Crafts later became prominent speakers and activists for freedom and equality, sharing their experiences and advocating for the rights of enslaved people.


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William and Ellen Craft were important figures in the abolitionist movement and the fight for civil rights in the 19th century. They gained notoriety for their daring escape from slavery in 1848, during which Ellen, who was of mixed race, disguised herself as a white male slave owner while William posed as her enslaved servant. Their successful escape to freedom in the North and subsequent activism highlighted the brutal realities of slavery and inspired others to join the abolitionist cause. Additionally, their story exemplifies the resilience and determination of enslaved people to seek freedom and justice.