The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution
Gregory E. O'Malley
St. Martin's Press
When most Americans think of slavery, they do not picture the colonial or revolutionary eras. Yet, in fact, one of six inhabitants of the thirteen original colonies was enslaved.
The Escapes of David George: an Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution reveals a remarkable, untold experience of the American revolutionary period—a Black man’s quest for the freedom espoused by our Founders, but denied him and other enslaved people.
Piecing together archival records and David George’s own brief account of his life—the earliest written testimony by a fugitive enslaved person in North America—Gregory O’Malley presents a unique perspective on our nation’s origins, principles, and contradictions.