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Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom · Chapters

Chapters explained

Chapter companions for Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom by William Craft.

  1. Chapter 1

    Epigraph

    The epigraph quotes William Cowper's poem, asserting that slaves who breathe English air are instantly free, establishing the theme of freedom through English soil.

  2. Chapter 2

    Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom

    William and Ellen Craft, a married enslaved couple in Georgia, devise a daring escape plan in December 1848. Ellen, who is nearly white, disguises herself as an invalid white gentleman, while William poses as her slave. They travel over 1,000 miles across slave states to freedom. The chapter details their motivations, the horrors of slavery, the legal and physical dangers of escape, and their eventual flight to England after the Fugitive Slave Act threatens their safety in Boston.

  3. Chapter 3

    Endnotes

    The endnotes provide explanatory context on Southern slave society, including laws against intermarriage and the demeaning naming conventions for enslaved people, which influenced literary characters like those in Uncle Tom's Cabin.