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December 1848

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Achievement · politics
William and Ellen Craft Escape Slavery in Daring Disguise

Ellen Craft — light-skinned enough to pass as white — disguised herself as an ailing white planter; William Craft traveled as her enslaved manservant. They traveled 1,000 miles by train, steamer, and carriage from Macon, Georgia to Philadelphia in four days. Their story became an international anti-slavery sensation. After the Fugitive Slave Act (1850) endangered them in Boston, they fled to England, lecturing to abolitionist audiences.

Events

  1. December 21, 1848
    William and Ellen Craft Escape Slavery in Daring Disguise

    Ellen Craft — light-skinned enough to pass as white — disguised herself as an ailing white planter; William Craft traveled as her enslaved manservant. They traveled 1,000 miles by train, steamer, and carriage from Macon, Georgia to Philadelphia in four days. Their story became an international anti-slavery sensation. After the Fugitive Slave Act (1850) endangered them in Boston, they fled to England, lecturing to abolitionist audiences.

  2. December 21, 1848
    William and Ellen Craft Escape Slavery in Daring Disguise

    Ellen Craft disguised herself as an ailing white planter; William traveled as her enslaved manservant. They journeyed 1,000 miles from Macon, Georgia to Philadelphia in four days. Their story became an international anti-slavery sensation. After the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act endangered them in Boston, they fled to England, lecturing to abolitionist audiences.