Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation

by John Hope Franklin, Loren Schweninger

From John Hope Franklin, America's foremost African American historian, comes this groundbreaking analysis of slave resistance and escape. A sweeping panorama of plantation life before the Civil War, this book reveals that slaves frequently rebelled against their masters and ran away from their plantations whenever they could.
For generations, important aspects about slave life on the plantations of the American South have remained shrouded. Historians thought, for instance, that slaves were generally pliant and resigned to their roles as human chattel, and that racial violence on the plantation was an aberration. In this precedent setting book, John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger demonstrate that, contrary to popular belief, significant numbers of slaves did in fact frequently rebel against their masters and struggled to attain their freedom. By surveying a wealth of documents, such as planters' records, petitions to county courts and state legislatures, and local newspapers, this book shows how slaves resisted, when, where, and how they escaped, where they fled to, how long they remained in hiding, and how they survived away from the plantation. Of equal importance, it examines the reactions of the white slaveholding class, revealing how they marshaled considerable effort to prevent runaways,
meted out severe punishments, and established patrols to hunt down escaped slaves.
Reflecting a lifetime of thought by our leading authority in African American history, this book provides the key to truly understanding the relationship between slaveholders and the runaways who challenged the system--illuminating as never before the true nature of the South's "most peculiar institution."

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, Race, Civil War, African American, Social Justice

480 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 1999

About the author

John Hope Franklin, Ph.D. (History, Harvard University, 1941; M.A., History, Harvard U., 1936; B.A., Fisk University, 1935), was the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University. He also had served as President of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association.

Reviews

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In order to fully appreciate this book you must clearly understand the purpose. Failure to do so will probably result in a disappointing experience. The focal point of Runaway Slaves is, "slave flight." Not the organized rebellions of a Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey or a Gabriel Prosser that readers may be familiar with, but the everyday individual resistance perpetrated by thousands despite the punishment and attendant violence.

So what you get is an examination of the slave system as told through the many examples of those who absconded. Some for days, others for weeks and months. It is not a book about the planning of escapes and what happened to the individuals who escaped, the book paints the picture of how abhorrent a system of bondage is. It also explodes the myth of a happy plantation system and contented "slaves."

Even in the face of the most horrific corrections, the absconding continued and the discontent remained extremely high. What becomes extremely clear is the profits involved in the trafficking of human beings was apparently worth all the trouble that plantation owners went through. Runaways were a cost of doing business that many southerners tried to hide from the larger public. The obvious reason for this was to keep the lie of happy and contented bondsmen and bondswomen alive.

"Masters were forced to explain how 'contented' and 'well cared' servants abandoned them in such large numbers."Although the stories of absconders are told in paragraphs and sometimes mere sentences the courage and boldness that African people displayed is simply amazing. Every African-American should be proud of how our ancestors were committed to freedom under the most heinous conditions. Never again should you believe in the docility of "slaves" as a whole.

The use of notices of runaways and petitions to legislatures and county courts was a brilliant deployment of sources. These two sources "provide a number of unique strengths. Masters who advertised for a return of their property had little reason to misinform their readers and every reason to be as precise as possible."

The takeaway for the reader is the information and inspiration you will receive from the story of consistent and constant resistance to slavery in this book. You will also have a great resource for any other reading you may want to do in the area of slavery and resistance to bondage.

[DeeReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation" by noted historian, John Hope Franklin gave a brutally honest and very graphic account on "the peculiar institution" of slavery! This book was chilling to read and certain parts truly gutted me but I kept reading it because this is our history and a gripping story to tell.

5 stars

[C.E. G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned very little about black people's resistance to slavery in school - it was mostly limited to the high profile stories of people like Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Dred Scott, and Harriet Tubman. But focusing on just a few individuals, or events like Nat Turner's rebellion, you erase all the resistance that happened every day, all the time, by thousands and thousands of enslaved black people.

This book showed how commonly black people employed tactics like running away, sabotage, laying out, theft, violence, and more to subvert their exploitation. And dispelled the idea that the Underground Railroad was a huge thing, or that white people were ever that helpful to runaways, or that heading North was the plan of most runaways (most runaways stayed in the South - living off other plantations, finding loved ones they'd been separated away from, trying to escape detection by losing themselves in big Southern cities, or the impressive stories of how people survived for decades in swamps etc). Franklin shows how resourceful and courageous so many black people were, I'm glad some of their stories are remembered here. Even the white slave owners of the time frequently commented on this attribute - in Franklin's examinations of newspaper notices about runaways, "intelligent" was the top descriptor of people who had run away.

The book was also a good look at the delusions of white people (we have such a rich, violent history of stupidity). Over and over again, slave owners were always MYSTIFIED when one of their slaves ran away. They were like, "I don't understand why this person whom I've separated from family and home and forced to do labor for me for free would betray me like this by running away! I was so kind in how I treated them as subhuman!" White people were so confused by this that they attributed the desire to run away to either outside agitators or mental illness, creating a diagnosis called "drapetomia, or the disease causing negroes to run away."

It also shows how whites of all economic classes profited off of black people, and the industry that formed around runaway slaves. Non-slaveholding/landowning whites made money by hunting down and punishing runaways (reading about how dogs were employed in this was especially upsetting), and free blacks were in danger of being kidnapped by white people and sold into slavery.

At first, I thought the way this book was structured wasn't for me. It's mostly organized by sharing clips of different primary sources along certain themes. This made it feel redundant and too long, but I thought more about the role of historians in preserving and packaging history, and I do think that the way Franklin stuck so close to the primary sources is a very honest and more accurate way of sharing history. It also felt like it was honoring the enslaved people whose stories are not frequently told, and it's more impactful to read the personal stories rather than just reading some statistics or theories. But still, the reason I give this 3 stars is because it still felt a little too long and detailed for someone who isn't an academic and is just kind of curious about the topic (I can see this being great for research papers though).

[Victoria & David Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The peculiar institution.
Contrary to my expectation, this book is not about "the underground railroad" and the organized escape of slaves from the south to the north and beyond to Canada, but the very real runaways who absconded for a day or a week or longer and often remained in the area where they had family or friends. Despite the slave catchers and the dogs and the whippings and the tooth filings and the brandings and the heavy wooden collars and the very real fears of the majority of whites who lived in fears of active rebellion. According to (Wikipedia) statistics it is estimated that although only 3% of the South legally owned slaves, up to 30% were involved (when families were included). Freed
slaves, second and third generation slaves, indentured folk who could be treated as slaves. All were part of the mixture. Economic and cultural.
The authors base their history upon an examination of
"notices of runaways in newspapers and petitions to southern legislatures and county courts"

"Most peculiar, mama"

John Lennon

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential.

[Erin McAnarney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This groundbreaking novel tells the story of a dark chapter in American History. Contrary to popular belief, many slaves did not accept the conditions they were kept in and although at times difficult to read, the book sheds a brilliant light on the often overlooked strive for American Freedom. This book would be a great read for history lovers and those who want an insight into how America has transformed over time.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily the most horrible aspect of American history, is the institution of slavery. Indentured servitude had been a historical norm for centuries before, of course, usually the mark of war, but in America it was paired with racial ideology to become utter evil. Although it eventually perished in 1865 at the hands of the 13th amendment, those whose lives it claimed were not necessarily willing to wait for freedom to be granted; instead, they took it. In Runaway Slaves, historians John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger establish how chronic absenteeism and escape were throughout the slave states, revealing the institution's gross unnaturalness and complete incompatibility with the human spirit.

Precious few people in the 21st century need to be convinced that slavery was wretched, and the few who maintain that it was a necessary evil, or that its abuses were exaggerated out of proportion, would do well to confront Runaway Slaves, presenting as it does not only one human story after another about men, women, and even children resisting tyranny over their lives, and 'voting with their feet' by escaping into the wild, but statistical evidence that reveals how persistent a problem runaways were. Readers might expect the abused to flee, and so they did, but here too are stories of slaves who were treated 'well' -- plantation pets, like the few Jefferson kept in his mansion and doted on. Even when provided with an allowance, comfortable quarters, and easy work, slaves still persisted in running off from time to time ,to the utter bewilderment of owners who concluded that some Africans were simply born mad. The runaways were not simply driven by some principled insistence that they ought to be free; the most common motive cited here is reunification with family. Of course, the data is incomplete; many runaways simply disappeared into history, and their motives and stories will never be told. Most did not attempt to to transverse the entire country to make into a free state, or Canada; instead, Franklin and Schweninger report, they either lingered around the edges of plantations (to be close to family, or help them escape), or migrated to a large city like Baltimore or New Orleans, where they could lose themselves in the masses that included substantial populations of free blacks. Because the data the authors work with spans most of the 19th century, readers will also appreciate slavery evolving as an institution; legal terms of servitude that expire give way to perpetual bondage, and captured African tribesmen still bearing the tattoos and piercings of their tribe's customs become the fathers of generations born into slavery, knowing nothing else.

Runaway Slaves is a solid piece of historical writing, providing human faces to the many thousands gone, turning a multitude once viewed as a factor of production into lives who must be reckoned. As soul-wearying as it can be to realize how many lives were wasted away in bondage, there is also room for hope in the fact that resistance was never absent from the scene. Regardless of beatings or bread and circuses, men are, and of a right ought to be, Free.

[Nice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has greatly increased my understanding of the Peculiar Institution. This book gives incredible and profound insight into the character and courage of the enslaved African and African-Americans that mert submitted to the senseless brutality and exploitation that was uniquely American Slavery.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides an intense look at "rebels on the plantations" or the runaway slaves. It explores a breadth and depth of primary sources rarely seen.

[Plchaffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Repetative writing but an eyeopener. Worth the effort.

[Tiffany Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing a piece of historical fiction, and this book is a fabulous resource. John Hope Franklin was a gifted writer and historian. He never disappoints.

[Vannessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ this book before reading anything about slavery!!!!!!!!!

[Waheedah Bilal · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were many more than you would have imagined, and their methods were far more creative than you could ever imagine.

[Polly Callahan]

recommended by Hassan Adeeb

[Hildegart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of information is packed into this book. Some of the stories are eye-opening.

[Always Forever Reading]

I placed this book on hold at my local library and couldn't wait to receive it. When I finally received it, I immediately began reading this book. In Runaway Slaves, John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger focus on the institution of slavery but from the perspective of the slave himself. This novel depicts the hours that slaves regularly endured.

Although this a good book, I am having an extremely difficult time reading it because the details are GRAPHIC. One example about a pregnant slave is absolutely horrendous. Franklin and Schweninger write, "One overseer admitted that he tied a female slave's hands, put her head down a steep hill, placed a log under her belly and administered several hundred lashes. He 'whipped her so brutally' that the woman, who was pregnant, miscarried and 'was Seriously injured and disabled.'"

To me, this disregard for human life is a disgrace on every level, and after reading about this incident, I just put down the book and began reading some lighter novels while still trying to read Runaway Slaves. It finally got to the point that I made the decision to postpone reading this novel for now. However, it is my intent to finish, just not right now.
#sad #americanslavery #brutal #injustice #plantation #south #thedeepsouth