Journal 1 "William and Ellen Craft": Travis Hearn

I'm not sure exactly what format you would like this in, so let me know if this is incorrect and I shall amend it.

Looking at the title of this piece and given its publication date, I expect this to be an account of two London slaves who managed to escape. Interestingly, slavery was outlawed in London and most of the British Empire with the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, so this account must either be of slaves kept illegally, or it is twenty-seven years old, and I predict the narrator's tone will not be as passionate, but more likely will take on a subdued, perhaps nostalgic tongue. The timing of its publication is also interesting, given the Emancipation Proclamation was ratified in 1862, one has to wonder if this account of British slavery had any impact on American slavery.

Upon reading the preface, I was slightly confused; William Craft quoted the American Declaration of Independence and said that he set forth "in order to obtain those rights which are so vividly set forth in the Declaration." I immediately checked the publication again, then continued reading to where I found Craft signing his preface from Hammersmith, London. Why was a British slave quoting the American declaration of independence when there was already legislation in his country abolishing it? In the next paragraph, an answer made itself apparent: the year of the escape, 1848. It was more reasonable for there to be a twelve-year gap between an escape and its penning to paper, but even still, 1848 was too late for British slaves, even those held in apprenticeships.

More than a third of the way through part I, however, resolution to my confusion, as the Crafts had been American slaves, escaped to London. It should been obvious given constant references to American states, laws, and slaves, but I was blinded by my need for rationalizing a British slave at the time.

In that first third, William Craft himself takes very time explaining his own situation, instead relating horrendous accounts of other unfortunate slaves. As predicted, it is told in a tone adopted by one who has a fire against the injustices committed, but it has been tempered by time to a calmer, but still passionate voice. The purpose of this section is to inform the reader that the care bestowed upon slaves is in no way as piteous as their owners claim be, or if the reader already of such occurrences, then to remind them of their deplorable nature.

The remainder of part I is the tale of the Crafts' escape, with peril enough to fill a fictional narrative, but it also provides an interesting account of the dichotomy between treatment of white and coloured persons. Williams wife, attired as an invalid gentleman, was able to travel in leisure, with much care and attention paid her by fellow passengers, whereas William was forced to sleep on sacks instead of a bed and to take dinner in the kitchen with poor utensils. As they approached Philadelphia, several travelers informed William's "master" that a keen eye was to be kept on him, for fear he should escape, but these became less common the further north they traveled.

One conversation, however, sums up the mindset of those anti-abolitionists who were not devoid of humanity, but clarity. "It always seems to me such a cruel thing to turn niggers loose to shift for themselves, when there are so many good masters to take care of them." In that one sentence, we see the misguided nature of slavery's adherents, who believed slaves to be little more than animals who couldn't take care of themselves, who needed to be kept as pets to ensure their survival. The greatest irony to be taken from this injustice is that it is the slaveholders who would be unable to live without their slaves, for picking their own cotton or preparing their own meals would be impossible for the lot of them.