Summary Of Ruth And Isabel Overhear Chains

Ruth and Isabel are both slaves who are attending the funeral of their previous owner Miss Finch. Both of them are excited when they realize they will be free once their owner dies, as stated in her will. However Miss Finch’s brother Robert doesn 't approve of this. He instead sells them to Anne and Elihu Lockton who are Loyalists currently during the Revolutionary War. Anne makes the girls call her Madam and is very cruel to them. While working on her duties, Isabel befriends Curzon, another slave who works for a Patriot Law Officer Mr Bellingham. Curzon tells Isabel of an opportunity to work as a spy to overhear any information from the Locktons concerning the conflict occurring right now. Isabel initially refuses but once she sees Ruth emotionally damaged from the Locktons abuse she immediately realizes they need to escape their owners. Isabel

Chains is a work of historical fiction. While Isabel and Ruth are fictional characters, their situation is realistic. They were both child slaves and child slaves were sold to families and had to work extremely hard. During the Revolutionary War, many slaves ran away in hope to find their family and start a new life. The battles depicted in the book are real. For example the British attacked Northern end of Manhattan. This was called the Battle of Fort Washington. Once the British gained control of Fort Washington they held thousands of Americans as prisoners of war. In around 1700-1775, about three hundred thousand Africans were kidnapped and shipped to the Americas to work as slaves. African American fought for both the British and Patriot sides during the war. In 1775, the Royal Governor of Virginia said that if slaves volunteered in the war for the British they would be freed. This proclamation was intended to ruin the Patriots economy considering Virginia had the highest number of slave owners. The Revolutionary War allowed the Americans to create and take charge of their own government and development of a