Personal Narrative: Escaping Slavery

Escaping Slavery and Becoming an Abolitionists

I woke up to the sound of a whip and men shouting “keep moving”. As I glared through the frosty window onto the snow covered field, I saw icicles glistening from the eaves of the house. I also saw overwhelmed men walking in chains on a snowy road with no shoes and ragged clothes. In North Carolina weather was not great and working on a cold plantation with no great clothes was hard. I was still a boy and did not experience slavery but only heard my mother’s stories of those hard days on the field that she experienced.

“Your father will come and pick you up to go to the big house and to see our master,” Informed my mother.

“I do not want to see Bill. Hhe is really mean and he yells at children

I’m seventeen years old and I work for the same master that sold my mother. He is very cruel to me and gives me five lashes everyday. He got even more cruel and they say all the slaveholders got more vicious after Nat Turner's rebellion and especially after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed.

My master wanteds to sell me to gain profit from me because he needs money., Nowso I might get sold to a slaveholder that is even worse. Because of this I'm planning tomy runaway and goto the North so that and I can find getto get help in finding my mother. It’s summer and field work is getting harder because of the hot temperatures , so I plan to runaway and to evade all my work.

On a bright Sunday morning, I grabbed all my stuff and was ready to run away. I grabbed my extra pair of clothing and went outside and I ran towards the woods. As I was running towards the woods, I hiding behind trees and bushes until the slave owners that are going to church passedtrying to trying to hide from slave owners that are going to church. I was almost near the woods when I got

This time, I ran through the woods but wearing my masters clothes that I stole. I was very careful because bounty hunters were always looking for fugitives. I was running by the river at night when I was running by the river at night when just as I heard the click of a gun ready to release it's bullet at me.

“Who are you?” The bounty hunter asked.

I opened my mouth to say something but then another slave catcher came and said they just saw Harriet Tubman and he left me and ran after the other slaveholder. He dropped his gun and ran after the slave catcher to capture Harriet Tubman because there was a higher reward for herwho had a high reward on her.

I ran for another two days and then I reached New York where I met Mr. Garrison, . HeMr. Garrison told me he was an abolitionists who fought to end slavery, and told him Ii would couldcan join him . I joined him and promised thatto help him if he promised he would help me find my mother.

“I will help you find your mother but you need to help us and fight against slavery,” explained Mr. Garrison.

“Thank you very much!” I exclaimed.

After that, Mr. Garrison said I should give a speech in Pennsylvania Hhall about my escape from slavery and why we should end slavery. After the speech, I got called to Mr. Garrison to talk to him because he needed to tell me something