Escape
As time progressed, the idea of freedom Raped became more and more real. One day, John Andrew bought a pony from one of the slaves on a neighboring plantation. When the mistress found out, she threatened to have the pony killed, and asked two of her son-in-laws to get rid of it. Hearing of the jeopardy of his pony, John hid the pony until Christmas. On Christmas Day, John took his pony and rode off from his plantation never to see his mother or father again. As he rode off to Boston, he ran into many white people who asked where he was off, to where John would respond that he was on his way to his plantation. John made it to the Santé Fe River where he boarded a small ship that was being run by a black man. John and his pony were dropped near land, but had to struggle upstream in order to reach it. After almost drowning, John and his pony made it to shore.
Then, John heard about a special badge that all African Americans had to produce in order to prove they were allowed to be free. John, not having a badge, sold his pony to buy a cloak to hide from patrolmen. The cloak worked to his advantage till he was able to find a ship to Boston.
When John found a ship heading to Boston, he tried to board but the crewmen refused to let John on board. The crewmen were afraid that he was working for a white man and trying to set them up. After being refused passage, John hid in a five by three foot box that was loaded onto the ship and put in the lower levels. Eventually the crewmen found him and threatened to unload him on the next ship. There never was another ship, and John made it to Boston safely.
From Boston, John Andrew went on to settle in Salem, Massachusetts. Once settled, he sought to purchase his family members still enslaved. He sent a letter to inquire about his family, and shortly after it was received, a slave agent was sent to search for him. Jackson avoided capture and was assisted by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who gave him food, clothes, and five dollars. He left Salem for Canada.
Read more about this topic: John Andrew Jackson
Famous quotes containing the word escape:
“All great religions, in order to escape absurdity, have to admit a dilution of agnosticism. It is only the savage, whether of the African bush or the American gospel tent, who pretends to know the will and intent of God exactly and completely.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“Every boy was supposed to come into the world equipped with a father whose prime function was to be our father and show us how to be men. He can escape us, but we can never escape him. Present or absent, dead or alive, real or imagined, our father is the main man in our masculinity.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“We know how powerful our mother was when we were little, but is our wife that powerful to us now? Must we relive our great deed of escape from Mama with every other woman in our life?”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)