Summary Of The Washingtons Relentless Pursuit Of Their Runaway Slave

The book Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, about Judge's voyage to freedom following her escape from the Washingtons' enslavement in 1796 was released in January 2017. Although Judge’s story is not well known to discuss, Erica Armstrong Dunbar, a social historian & scholar in history, including women, tells her tale and her origins in slavery through this book. Dunbar primarily wrote this work for the general public to establish the reality of slavery, which was not told or taught in our education. She illustrates how freedom is actually defined in Ona's narrative using fear and gender. Ona's fortitude and sacrifice on her journey are built upon by Dunbar in order to go deeper into what Ona

An illustration of this would be the decision she made to leave the Washingtons and begin planning her escape. In the book, Dunbar states, “For a young woman such as Judge, the dangers of the unfamiliar – Eliza’s temper and Law’s sexual profile – served as an urgent incentive to run away.” When Ona learned that Martha Washington would sell her to her granddaughter Eliza Custis, she came up with her escape plot. In addition to being upset about her news, Ona was also conscious of Custis' husband's sexually predatory background. Additionally, she claimed, “Her fidelity meant nothing to the Washingtons; she was their property, to be sold, mortgaged, or traded with whomever they wished.”. Dunbar is now claiming that Ona's decision to leave the Washingtons was motivated by fear. Despite the fact that Dunbar is certainly right in her assertion that Ona and Martha Washington crossed her line, there is more to Ona's growing strength. She finally finds the courage to tell herself that she needs to find freedom by facing her fears because she knows that she was just the Washington family's property and that it wouldn't matter who she is

Following Ona’s beginning of her journey to freedom, Dunbar claimed, “And when the moment arrived, she gathered her steely nerves and fled.”. Despite her fear of what lies ahead, she takes the first step by putting her past behind her and moving forward. She didn't even have time to consider what would happen to her family in Mount Vernon despite her determination to be free. When she encountered Basset in New Hemisphere, he stated, “Perhaps that he tugged on heartstrings, reminder Staines of the family that she left behind at Mount Vernon…”. Moving forward, Ona does express emotion because she never even attempted to contact or locate them, but also because doing so would have put her chances of runaway in jeopardy. Based on these facts, Dunbar skillfully draws Ona's feelings to demonstrate how hard it was for her to make sacrifices in order to pursue her pursuit of freedom. In general, she stood up and rejected every chance to return to the Washingtons, even if it meant hurting her family who are also struggling in Mount Vernon, regardless of how many times people would locate her or what threats she was told about. Despite how hurtful it was, Ona still proved herself to find freedom in the joyful and independent life she