William Craft

We rely on your support to help us keep producing beautiful, free, and unrestricted editions of literature for the digital age. Will you support our efforts with a donation ? Ellen Craft , the child of her enslaver, poses as the owner of her husband William as they make their way north to freedom. They meet and overcome many obstacles and dangers before they reach Philadelphia. Once there, despite help from many, they find that prejudice continues to block the freedom they crave.
As they make their way to their final destination in England, they continue to face racism and societal challenges. Originally published in 1860 in England, this brief memoir is a frank depiction of the fears and dangers enslaved people faced when they decided to run away and assert their freedom. William Craft (died 1900) was a prominent voice of the late 19th and early 20th century. Their work has endured across generations and continues to be read and studied worldwide.
Adventure literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries captured the imagination of a reading public hungry for tales of exploration, danger, and heroism. Running A Thousand Miles For Freedom belongs to this tradition of gripping narratives that transported readers beyond the boundaries of their everyday lives.