Freeing Charles: The Struggle to Free a Slave on the Eve of the Civil War

Description

Freeing Charles recounts the life and epic rescue of captured fugitive slave Charles Nalle of Culpeper, Virginia, who was forcibly liberated by Harriet Tubman and others in Troy, New York, on April 27, 1860. Scott Christianson follows Nalle from his enslavement by the Hansborough family in Virginia through his escape by the Underground Railroad and his experiences in the North on the eve of the Civil War. This engaging narrative represents the first in-depth historical study of this crucial incident, one of the fiercest anti-slavery riots after Harpers Ferry. Christianson also presents a richly detailed look at slavery culture in antebellum Virginia and probes the deepest political and psychological aspects of this epic tale. His account underscores fundamental questions about racial inequality, the rule of law, civil disobedience, and violent resistance to slavery in the antebellum North and South. As seen in New York Times and on C-Span’s Book TV. front cover......Page 1 title page......Page 4 copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 16 1. Genesis......Page 22 2. Revelation......Page 29 3. Master and Slave Relations......Page 38 4. The Shakeup......Page 49 5. Making the Break......Page 59 6. The Escape......Page 67 7. Still in Philadelphia......Page 74 8. Farmed Out......Page 81 9. Family Pays a Heavy Price......Page 98 10. Meteors......Page 103 11. Hooking Up......Page 113 12. Caught......Page 121 13. Busting Out......Page 129 14. Rescue......Page 140 15. Aftermath......Page 148 16. The War Hits Home in Culpeper, 1861-65......Page 152 17. Moving On......Page 158 18. The Search for Charles Nalle......Page 162 Appendix......Page 178 Notes......Page 182 Index......Page 230 Illustrations......Page 88