Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo starts in 1848 when Ellen and William Craft self-emancipate themselves from Macon, Georgia. To escape from Macon, Ellen disguises herself as a “sick, rich, White young man—a most respectable-looking gentleman,” and William accompanies her as her slave. In Boston, they run into northern racism and the Fugitive Slave Act. “This work is not fictionalized.” “The absence of a happy ending may partly explain why the Crafts are not better known.” Why no happy ending? The book opens with the Fugitive Slave Act and closes with Jim Crow.
In between the Fugitive Slave Act and Jim Crow the Crafts overcame many obstacles and had many happy successes. Their story is the opposite of the story of the American South. While the Civil War and Reconstruction represented a high point for the Crafts and other enslaved people, the white supremacists and racists recovered their pre-Civil War power before the death of the Crafts.
The Crafts needed to escape three times. First, disguised as master and slave, they traveled from Macon, Georgia to Philadelphia. Once in Philadelphia, they learned they were not home-free and continued to Boston. They were okay in Boston until the Compromise of 1850 and the new Fugitive Slave Act. They tried to stay in Boston protected by many powerful friends, but they finally gave up and moved on the England.
Their time in England might have been their best years. They gave lectures, visited The Great Exhibition of 1851 with its Crystal Palace, and received an education and literacy.
This is an enlightening view the 19th-century America. Highly recommended.“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”
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