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Flee north : a forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery's borderland Cover Image Book

Flee north : a forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery's borderland / Scott Shane.

Forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery's borderland (portion title)
Shane, Scott, 1954- (author.).

Summary:

"A riveting account of the extraordinary abolitionist, liberator, and writer Thomas Smallwood, who bought his own freedom, led hundreds out of slavery, and popularized the term "underground railroad," from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist, Scott Shane. Flee North tells the story for the first time of an American hero all but lost to history. Born into slavery, Thomas Smallwood was free, self-educated, and working as a shoemaker a short walk from the U.S. Capitol by the 1840s. He recruited a young white activist, Charles Torrey, and together they began to organize mass escapes from Washington, Baltimore, and surrounding counties to freedom in the north. They were racing against an implacable enemy: men like Hope Slatter, the region's leading slave trader, part of a lucrative industry that would tear one million enslaved people from their families and sell them to the brutal cotton and sugar plantations of the deep south. Men, women, and children in imminent danger of being sold south turned to Smallwood, who risked his own freedom to battle what he called "the most inhuman system that ever blackened the pages of history." And he documented the escapes in satirical newspaper columns, mocking the slaveholders, the slave traders and the police who worked for them. At a time when Americans are rediscovering a tragic and cruel history and struggling anew with the legacy of white supremacy, this book -- the first to tell the extraordinary story of Smallwood -- will offer complicated heroes, genuine villains, and a powerful narrative set in cities still plagued by shocking racial inequity today"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 1250843219
  • ISBN: 9781250843210
  • Physical Description: viii, 340 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps (some color) ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First edition
  • Publisher: New York : Celadon Books, 2023.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
The Most Inhuman System That Ever Blackened the Pages of History -- Until No Slave Should Be Found in Our Land -- That Mock Metropolis of Freedom -- The Flesh-Mongers -- Slavery's Borderland -- Safe from the Fangs of Robert Gilmor -- The Laughingstock Letters -- That Vile Wretch Slatter -- Very Vigilant Officers! -- Between Two Fires -- A Fugitive from Justice -- Perhaps Reckless -- Let the Strife Go On -- Fly to Canada, and Begin Anew -- Resident Capitalist -- No Breeze Comes.

Search for related items by subject

Subject:
Slatter, Hope H. (Hope Hull), 1790-1853.
Smallwood, Thomas, 1801-1883.
Torrey, Charles T. (Charles Turner), 1813-1846.
Abolitionists > United States > Biography.
African American abolitionists > Biography.
Fugitive slaves > United States > History > 19th century.
Slave trade > United States > History > 19th century.
Underground Railroad.
Toronto (Ont.) > Biography.
Genre:
Biographies.

Available copies

  • 24 of 28 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 0 of 1 copy available at McDowell County Public Library.

Holds

  • 1 current hold with 28 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Marion Library BIO SMA (Text) 37810435807689 Adult Biography Checked out 08/22/2026

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MARC Record

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1001 . ‡aShane, Scott, ‡d1954- ‡eauthor. ‡0(CARDINAL)380919
24510. ‡aFlee north : ‡ba forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery's borderland / ‡cScott Shane.
24630. ‡aForgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery's borderland
250 . ‡aFirst edition
264 1. ‡aNew York : ‡bCeladon Books, ‡c2023.
264 4. ‡c©2023
300 . ‡aviii, 340 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : ‡billustrations, maps (some color) ; ‡c25 cm
336 . ‡acartographic image ‡bcri ‡2rdacontent
336 . ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent
337 . ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia
338 . ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier
504 . ‡aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
5050 . ‡aThe Most Inhuman System That Ever Blackened the Pages of History -- Until No Slave Should Be Found in Our Land -- That Mock Metropolis of Freedom -- The Flesh-Mongers -- Slavery's Borderland -- Safe from the Fangs of Robert Gilmor -- The Laughingstock Letters -- That Vile Wretch Slatter -- Very Vigilant Officers! -- Between Two Fires -- A Fugitive from Justice -- Perhaps Reckless -- Let the Strife Go On -- Fly to Canada, and Begin Anew -- Resident Capitalist -- No Breeze Comes.
520 . ‡a"A riveting account of the extraordinary abolitionist, liberator, and writer Thomas Smallwood, who bought his own freedom, led hundreds out of slavery, and popularized the term "underground railroad," from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist, Scott Shane. Flee North tells the story for the first time of an American hero all but lost to history. Born into slavery, Thomas Smallwood was free, self-educated, and working as a shoemaker a short walk from the U.S. Capitol by the 1840s. He recruited a young white activist, Charles Torrey, and together they began to organize mass escapes from Washington, Baltimore, and surrounding counties to freedom in the north. They were racing against an implacable enemy: men like Hope Slatter, the region's leading slave trader, part of a lucrative industry that would tear one million enslaved people from their families and sell them to the brutal cotton and sugar plantations of the deep south. Men, women, and children in imminent danger of being sold south turned to Smallwood, who risked his own freedom to battle what he called "the most inhuman system that ever blackened the pages of history." And he documented the escapes in satirical newspaper columns, mocking the slaveholders, the slave traders and the police who worked for them. At a time when Americans are rediscovering a tragic and cruel history and struggling anew with the legacy of white supremacy, this book -- the first to tell the extraordinary story of Smallwood -- will offer complicated heroes, genuine villains, and a powerful narrative set in cities still plagued by shocking racial inequity today"-- ‡cProvided by publisher.
60010. ‡aSlatter, Hope H. ‡q(Hope Hull), ‡d1790-1853. ‡0(CARDINAL)878661
60010. ‡aSmallwood, Thomas, ‡d1801-1883. ‡0(CARDINAL)881355
60010. ‡aTorrey, Charles T. ‡q(Charles Turner), ‡d1813-1846. ‡0(CARDINAL)881315
650 0. ‡aAbolitionists ‡zUnited States ‡vBiography. ‡0(CARDINAL)306276
650 0. ‡aAfrican American abolitionists ‡vBiography. ‡0(CARDINAL)303133
650 0. ‡aFugitive slaves ‡zUnited States ‡xHistory ‡y19th century.
650 0. ‡aSlave trade ‡zUnited States ‡xHistory ‡y19th century.
650 0. ‡aUnderground Railroad. ‡0(CARDINAL)256524
651 0. ‡aToronto (Ont.) ‡vBiography.
655 7. ‡aBiographies. ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)326681
902 . ‡aMARCIVE 202312
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