Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom (AmazonClassics Edition)

Born into slavery, Ellen and William Craft made a daring bid for freedom. The light-skinned Ellen disguised herself as a man traveling north, and William posed as her servant. The couple’s audacious journey by train, carriage, and steamboat took them from Macon, Georgia, to Philadelphia, then to Boston, and eventually to England in search of their liberation.

Supplemented with newspaper articles, letters, legal analysis, poetry, and personal history, the Crafts’ incredible narrative exposed the injustice and cruelty of slavery and was one of the most successful and important abolitionist documents ever published. Though largely unknown today, their story is a critical piece of our nation’s history.

Revised edition: Previously published as Running A Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery, this edition of Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.