The Project Gutenberg EBook of Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, by
William and Ellen Craft

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Title: Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom

Author: William and Ellen Craft

Posting Date: August 3, 2008 [EBook #585]
Release Date: July 4, 1996

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THOUSAND MILES FOR FREEDOM ***

Produced by Judith Boss

THE AMERICAN NEGRO

HIS HISTORY AND LITERATURE

RUNNING A THOUSAND MILES FOR FREEDOM

William and Ellen Craft

RUNNING A THOUSAND MILES FOR FREEDOM OR, THE ESCAPE OF WILLIAM AND
ELLEN CRAFT FROM SLAVERY.

"Slaves cannot breathe in England: if their lungs
Receive our air, that moment they are free;
They touch our country, and their shackles fall."

COWPER

RUNNING A THOUSAND MILES FOR FREEDOM

PREFACE.

Having heard while in Slavery that "God made of one blood all nations
of men," and also that the American Declaration of Independence says,
that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness;" we could not understand by what right we were held as
"chattels." Therefore, we felt perfectly justified in undertaking the
dangerous and exciting task of "running a thousand miles" in order to
obtain those rights which are so vividly set forth in the Declaration.

I beg those who would know the particulars of our journey, to peruse
these pages.

This book is not intended as a full history of the life of my wife, nor
of myself; but merely as an account of our escape; together with other
matter which I hope may be the means of creating in some minds a deeper
abhorrence of the sinful and abominable practice of enslaving and
brutifying our fellow-creatures.

Without stopping to write a long apology for offering this little
volume to the public, I shall commence at once to pursue my simple
story.

W. CRAFT.

12, CAMBRIDGE ROAD, HAMMERSMITH, LONDON.

RUNNING A THOUSAND MILES FOR FREEDOM.

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PART I.

"God gave