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 dan- gerous and exciting task of "running a thousand miles" in order to obtain those rights which are so vividly set forth in the Declaration.