Abolitionists' Letter

I am writing from the perspective of an abolitionist who heard about the plight of Ellen and William Craft and is sending a letter to a fellow abolitionist.

Dear Charlie Williams,

Have you heard of the most recent tale of the tyranny of slavery and success of two slaves in escaping the institution? Two such noble souls, Ellen and William Craft, stole into the dead of night from the South and made their way North hoping to find refuge and freedom. However the recent Fugitive Slave Bill put them in jeopardy even in the Free states and they had to eventually make their way across the atlantic to England! To think that America’s original oppressors are now the ones welcoming the most hated and hunted within American shores. To think that our country once sought freedom and independence from the British and now we have implemented a devilish system that puts people in bondage such that indentured servants consider themselves better than to be a slave.

Their journey was made possible because the wife courageously donned the appearance of a slave master - a male! She concealed her true countenance and used the disguise of a master who needed treatment in the North and portrayed the husband as her slave travelling with her and taking care after her. Most of such attempts would not be made possible but the woman, Ellen Craft, actually appears white and is probably of mixed heritage but in the unfortunate situation to be born to the mother of a slave in the South which automatically put her in bondage. In using the fake injury, she was able to cover most of herself so that her features would not be given away to onlookers or give away any suspicion to others. After having reached what seemed to be freedom, the couple found themselves in desperate need to flee the United States entirely because of the wretched Fugitive Slave Bill which required any person to return an escaped slave to the master regardless of the state which that slave may be in. Such tragic laws! Truly this country has subordinated Blacks and made the “American Black as the new alien” (Morrison). They were never brought here willingly and this country has yet to be a home for any Black people.  

Their story brings to my attention the power of human connection and the complexities of race. We have so often thought of Blacks as completely different people or sometimes even an inferior species. Yet our country treats a woman who is considered to be mostly white as an inferior being. Slavery knows no boundaries - it truly is a gluttonous and ravenous beast able and ready to consume all. People do not see that these two were deeply in love and willing to die for one another; they are truly human unlike the tyrants who hunt and oppress them simply out of pride and principle. Blackness or Whiteness is not just some absolute measure that can be applied on all people’s an evenly discriminate between them. Hell, if I were born to a slave mother, I would also be in bondage and I have no Black ancestors at all! The logic of the institution has no moral grounding and those who perpetuate the system will be undermined but fellow abolitionists and brave souls such as those of Ellen and William Craft.

Your friend,
Ruben Jacobs