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What can we learn from Ellen and William Craft? 

Through their story, we can learn so much about them, the times they lived in and the places they inhabited. 

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Image in Public Domain from NYPL website. 

Who were the Crafts?

Ellen and William Craft were campaigners and writers against enslavement. They were from Georgia in the USA. 

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William was also a skilled cabinetmaker. Ellen was a skilled seamstress*. 

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*seamstress: A woman who sews 

Ellen's Story

Both Ellen and William were born into enslavement in Georgia, USA. 

In December 1848 they escaped to Boston, Massachusetts with an incredibly brave and brilliant plan. 

They later wrote about this and their lives in Running A Thousand Miles for Freedom. The book was told from William's point of view even though it was experienced and written by them both.  

The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act

By the 1850s America was tearing itself apart over the issue of enslavement. The Southern states, like Georgia, wanted to keep enslaving people. As the USA expanded westwards across the continent, they wanted enslavement to spread westwards. 

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In the north, people had a mix of beliefs. Some thought enslavement was evil and wanted it to end, some wanted it to remain in the south as they gained from it being there, by using or things made in the south, or selling them. Some people did not want enslavement to spread westwards. There was talk of the USA splitting into two countries and even a civil war. This would not happen for another 10 years. 

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In the meantime, the US government made a compromise to try to keep both sides from going to war. One compromise was the Fugitive Slave Act that said anyone who escaped enslavement and went to the north was to be considered an outlaw and turned to the south. It said that this was the responsibility of all persons to capture and return people who had freed themselves.  

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Many who had escaped were now afraid. 'Slave Catchers' roamed the northern states and able to use the law to capture people. . Many left the USA and went to Canada. Some came to the UK. 

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The compromise did not work. It angered the north and further divided the country. 

Over to You!

History Detective challenge  - The Crafts in the Northeast

Where did the Craft's visit and talk in the Northeast?

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Go to Frederick Douglass in Britain (It is not just about Frederick Douglass)

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1. Choose William and Ellen Craft

2. Zoom in on your location (or any that you are interested in)

3. Create a timeline of their talks

4. Are any of the locations still there today?

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The Know More section will help with this also.

What would you have asked the Crafts if you had been at one of their talks?

The Crafts fight racism in Newcastle.

Wise Week

In August 1863 Newcastle hosted a science and learning festival that local people called 'Wise Week'. 

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In one talk a famous anthropologist called James Hunt gave a talk in the Assembly Rooms in Newcastle. He held many racist views. Like so  many of this time, he believed that black people were inferior to white people. His talk had supporters as well as those who thought he was wrong. 

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William Craft had been asked to attend in the audience. William calmly listened to the racist lecture. He then proceeded to take the argument apart. His response was met with the cheers of the audience. At one point, Craft refuted that all white people were superior by saying, 'all Englishmen were not Shakespeares'.  

"All Englishmen were not Shakespeares."

William Craft's counter-argument to Dr. Hunt. 

The Crafts went back to the USA in 1868 with their five children. This was only three years after the end of enslavement in the US. Life was far from perfect for many black Americans. The Crafts opened a school for black children in Georgia.  

Final thoughts...

The Craft's home in London. 26 Cambridge Grove, London. 

Spudgun67 Ellen and William Craft - 26 Cambridge Grove, London, W6 0LA Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

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