Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation

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Six score and 16 years after the end of the Civil War has not dimmed many of the controversies surrounding the events leading up to that epic struggle. In "Runaway Slaves," John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger attempt to counter one of the more insidious images: that slaves working under the plantation system were generally happy, with instances of rebellion few and far between. By quoting from contemporary records -- everything from letters and diaries to newspapers, handbills and petitions to county courts and state legislatures -- Franklin and Schweninger want to show that slaves rebelled against their masters in a number of ways. The scope of rebellion is breathtakingly wide, ranging from a sort of civil disobedience -- complaining, refusing to work, hiding from the overseers, destroying or stealing property, mistreating the animals, to the more serious offenses such as running away, formenting rebellion or murder. Any slaves was capable of running off, from known troublemakers to the most trusted house servants. Even hired slaves, those who had earned their master's trust and were allowed to accept work in the cities and generally left alone, would run away. "Runaway Slaves" spends several hundred pages detailing the various forms of rebellion, and that is the book's greatest strength and weakness. The sheer volume and range of these acts makes it clear what the white overlords were up again, and explains some of the extreme methods used to keep the blacks down. But the book also doesn't give an indication of the extent of black rebellion, and thus it offers a case no more convincing than whites to point out the few blacks who fought for the Confederacy. It would have been far more effective to look at a particular county over a year and examine what went on there during that time. By cross-referencing diaries, newspapers, memoirs and other accounts, it may be possible to discover just how deep resistance to whites ran.But for those looking for details of who ran, why, and how they were captured and punished, "Runaway Slaves" offers a wealth of details and a few choice insights.

The contents of this book (covering the period from 1790 to 1860) provide a convincing argument for why the prosperous citizens of southern states felt compelled to fight a war for state's rights. The slaveholding society had acquired its rapid growth and success from the low cost production of highly labor-intensive commodities. While the abolition of slavery might have allowed a reasonable transition to a low-pay labor force, this would be the case only if, as most southerners then asserted, their slaves were generally contented with their work and treatment. On the contrary, most southern states elaborated, over nearly a century, extensive formal and informal mechanisms to keep their system of slavery from collapsing under its own weight.The reality of profound social instability within the Southern system is brought home dramatically by Franklin and Schweninger's relentless survey of runaways. It exposes the lie in the Southern assertion that the system worked."In 1860, there were about 385,000 slave owners in the South, among whom about 46,000 were planters [20 or more slaves]. Even if only half of all planters experienced a single runaway in a year, and if only 10 or 15 percent of other slaveholders faced the same problem (both extremely conservative estimates) the number of runaways annually would exceed 50,000."These numbers are staggering. It bespeaks a system under siege from within. While abolitionists often spoke of the brutalizing effect of slavery on the slaveholder, these figures offer a frightening vision of the efforts that were required to maintain slavery. In some states, over 50% of the penal code dealt with specific aspects of slave management and control. The systems of slave retrieval and the disposition of recalcitrant slaves gave birth to practices which extended well beyond the realm of slaves. Any non-white, free or otherwise, was increasingly subject to suspicion and arrest as a possible runaway slave -- the antebellum offense of WWB (walking while black).As a student of the Haitian Revolution, I have become fairly inured to reading about the brutalities of slavery. But, while reading this book, tears filled my eyes at the recounting of numerous instances of free people of color being arrested as suspected runaways. These victims, men, women and children, were often sold into lifelong slavery. While this is not substantially different from similar events occurring on the Slave Coast, it came as a surprise that it occurred in America to free-born people as well as to those who had been manumitted. Re-enslavement was often close at hand."Twenty-seven black men in Prince Edward County, Virginia, for example, were listed on the county's 1847 inventory of 'free Negroes to be Sold for taxes,' including seven members of the Bartlett family -- Joe, Henry Jr., Ben Sr., George, Samuel, Charles and Jim."WEAKNESSES: In terms of the value of the material presented, this remarkab

An excellent work in which the authors look intensely at one aspect of a subject (runaways) to throw light on the whole (i.e., slavery and how terrible it actually was). Very readable, excellent use of primary source materials. A little slow going at first, where there's not much analysis. The problems the first reviewer cited are due to gaps in the primary sources.

Unlike most accounts of those days told strictly by either verbal or written reminisce, Runaway slaves takes the tact of telling the story of the runaway through newspaper ads, civil actions and various types of deeds and wills.It's the author's (John Hope Franklin & Loren Schweninger) premise that these types of documents would be the most useful and accurate because a slave owner most likely would not get his missing property back if he misrepresented the facts. The authors compiled a stunning amount of material which not surprisingly tells a most compelling and fascinating story of time gone by. And in its totality it all rings so true, it saddens me to realize there's no reason other than our contemporary prejudices that these open facts are so historically obscure.Obscure facts such as the training of "Negro dogs." Those dogs trained to track down runaway slaves. The importance of jails in holding captured runaways. How cost were incurred while the slave awaited the arrival of the owner or how the slave may have been sold by the jail to cover costs. It addresses why relatively small rewards were offered for runaways because the slave owners network was so tight. The book also talks about overseers and plantation mistress. One thing the book makes clear is the wide diversity of slaves that lived in those times. From slaves that could pass as white and be "very plausible" as said in those times to as black as night. And while there existed a wide variety of slaves the bulk of the runaways consisted of young, strong males. The authors also delve into the many reasons slaves runaway. These reasons went beyond just an outright desire to freedom. Some other reasons included escape from a cruel masters or harsh working conditions. Or striking back at the owner because of the sale of a loved one or the pending sale of the slave himself. But they also address some not so well known reasons like running away and "lying out" as a way of bargaining for better conditions. How about running away simply to take a vacation. It was the author's mission to prove that runaways were such a problem that owners had to down play the problem to the rest of the world to justify the subjugation of their fellow human beings. And based on the material presented here they make a clear case for the veracity of their argument. As the reader pours through the material you can't help but marvel at the brilliance of their premise. The various court documents, wills, deeds and runway ads make the past come alive. Don't get me wrong the authors weren't so foolish as to just republish a bunch of old court docs (although the book does have an excellent appendix and bibliography filled with some samples). They are telling a story. One quibble I had with the book was that while the authors do address the reasons for slaves running away a lot more time is giving to the owners complaining about why their slaves would want to runaway. A