True story of the escape of enslaved people, William and Ellen Craft, from Macon, Georgia to Philadelphia, Boston, Cananda, and the United Kingdom.

This was so eye opening. I had never heard this story. I liked it. I liked how we got the story of the Crafts and their escape. I also liked there was unknown history given. I knew some of the "big" names that helped or hindered this couple. I liked learning about the others who helped them who history has forgotten.

Their escape was remarkable as they leave with Ellen dressing as a wealthy young man who is sickly, and William is her slave. I also liked that the route was given as well as the methods used. I also liked how everything of the pre-Civil War era is shown and how it does or may impact them. I also liked that their enslavers are not forgotten in the story. This is a full, rich story.

Their escape to Canada and the difficulties they ran into are described. Their arrival in Liverpool and meeting up again with William Bell Brown is given as well as what was happening in the United Kingdom during this period. I liked the part with the World's Fair and how those who support slavery cannot speak out about it.

I also liked that I saw a new perspective of how the North and the United Kingdom were as complicit in slavery as the South. The South may have practiced it, but the North participated in it through cotton, manufacturing, and trade. I did not realize how intertwined the North and South were through business, schooling, and friendships. Some of it I knew but not the extent of it. It makes me rethink what I was taught in school.

I am glad I read this. Everyone should including school children. It changed how I saw the North, South, and Civil War. ( )

This is one of those special books that most likely won’t have a wide audience because the main subjects of the book, Ellen and William Craft, are obscure players in the slave story. Their story, nonetheless, is every bit as important and interesting as any story of slaves who ran to their freedom. In fact, their story is more exciting than most because of the clever nature of their scheme. Enough said. Read for yourself to hear what the scheme entailed. The only thing that bothered me about this book is the amount of language like “could have,” “might have,” since much of what Woo reports is speculative, some of it with little evidence that it actually happened. That is the nature of historical nonfiction these days. I guess it’s what is required to make sure readers keep turning the pages. That said, this is definitely an important history book, one well worth the time to read it. ( )

Ellen and William Craft, an enslaved couple from Georgia, hatch a unique plot to escape their enslavement: Ellen conceals herself as a wealthy white young man with William posing as the young man's slave.
The bulk of the narrative is not taken up by the actual flight, but rather what happens afterwards in a historical perspective of the abolitionist movement, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the American Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Reaching the North (namely Pennsylvania in this case and then Boston) was not a guarantee of freedom. The Crafts ultimately had to go all the way to England to be out of the reach of enslavers.

Reading this account by Ilyon Woo has prompted me to track down the primary source of this slave narrative by the actual subjects: Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom by William and Ellen Craft. ( )

[Master Slave Husband Wife] is an interesting look at one couple's journey from being enslaved in Georgia in the 1800s through their escape and life after slavery. William and Ellen Craft are enslaved in Macon, Georgia. They are both highly skilled, William in cabinet-making and Ellen as a seamstress and house maid. They are owned by different people, but have enough range of motion because of their skills that they meet and fall in love. They both have experienced losing family members as they are sold to different owners and decide that their only path forward is to attempt escape. They come up with an ingenious idea in 1848, before the Underground Railroad is in full swing. Ellen, who looks white, will dress as a wealthy white man, also feigning illness to help keep her distance from others. William will travel as "his" slave. They say they are traveling to Philadelphia for medical treatment. The first third of the book details their escape.

Next they try to settle in Boston, but the Fugitive Slave Act, which allows enslavers to reclaim their "property" in the North puts them in peril. They have been highly visible, telling their story of escape to abolitionist groups. They try to continue this work in the North, but have to flee to England. There they continue telling their story and begin to settle, starting a family. After the Civil War, they return to the U.S., but, as we all know, the Civil War and emancipation did not mean life was all of a sudden easy or fair for Black Americans.

This book does a great job of telling Ellen and William Craft's story and including the politics of the time and other famous figures without overshadowing their lives. I found it fascinating and readable. ( )

Such an incredible true history, pre-Civil War, of Ellen and William Craft, an enslaved couple who traveled from bondage in Macon, Georgia to Philadelphia and freedom, though not to safety or security. Ellen, who was "owned" by her own half-sister, had very light skin color and was able to pass as a young white "gentleman", and William as her devoted, enslaved servant. Through six states, by rail, ferry, coach, staying at inns as owner and owned, they took enormous risks of capture. Due to the hideous Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, agreed to by the North to keep the country together and championed by such statesmen as Noah Webster, the Crafts were always in danger of being returned to Macon. To achieve their true freedom from capture, the Crafts sailed to Great Britain, where they appeared on the anti-slavery lecture circuit, with Ellen billed as "The White Slave", a description she despised. All the while, both of their family members remained enslaved in Georgia until the Emancipation Proclamation. In addition to the incredible story of their journey, the author shares her extensive research on the Boston abolitionists, on other Black men and women who were able to escape slavery, and on the ultimate destinies of the Crafts and their supporters. Most repulsive was the horrifying episode with the "slavecatchers" sent from down South to Boston, where the Crafts were protected by activists and reviled by pro-slavery citizens who tried to force their return to the Macon plantation. This is a remarkable recounting of little-known history, brought brilliantly back into the light by a talented author. ( )