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Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart

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Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Banky. The seaside

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Speaker 1: town of Ipswich, Massachusetts, is a quaint place about an

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Speaker 1: hour north of Boston. Today, tourists flocked to the area

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Speaker 1: to enjoy the famous clams in Crane Beach in the

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Speaker 1: late sixteen and early seventeen hundreds, though life there was

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Speaker 1: very different. Early settlers made a living farming, fishing, and

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Speaker 1: operating mills. Larger ships that needed deeper ports passed the

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Speaker 1: town in favor of Boston, Salem, and Plymouth, keeping ips

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Speaker 1: which is trade and population small. At first, settlers struggled

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Speaker 1: to survive. The weather was less than hospitable and winters

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Speaker 1: proved to be brutal, but the ocean brought fish, the

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Speaker 1: marsh was perfect for growing hey, and the rivers supplied

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Speaker 1: water for drinking and running the mills, and the effort

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Speaker 1: and hard work were worth it. Starting over in a

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Speaker 1: new world was better than the tyranny they had suffered

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Speaker 1: in England. In the America's settlers could almost smell freedom

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Speaker 1: in the salt air. Life wouldn't be easy, but then

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Speaker 1: one worth living never was, and some people took that

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Speaker 1: saying the heart long before it became mainstream. Jenny Slew

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Speaker 1: was born in Ipswich in seventeen nineteen as the daughter

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Speaker 1: of a free white woman and an enslaved black man.

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Speaker 1: According to state law, such children inherited their white mother's

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Speaker 1: status and were allowed to live as free people. However,

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Speaker 1: children bor into enslaved women fathered by white men did

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Speaker 1: not inherit the same privilege. Though the state didn't legally

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Speaker 1: recognize her parents union, Jenny insisted her parents were married

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Speaker 1: and they lived together. When she herself became an adult,

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Speaker 1: she married twice, both times two enslaved men, but Jenny

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Speaker 1: remained free until seventeen sixty two, when she was kidnapped

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Speaker 1: and forced into slavery. The kidnapper was a prominent citizen

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Speaker 1: within the community. John Whipple Jr's ancestors had been one

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Speaker 1: of the town's founding families, had been a respected military officer.

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Speaker 1: He was wealthy, too, and with that wealth came status

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Speaker 1: and a large fourteen room estate he had inherited from

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Speaker 1: his father. He already owned several enslaved people, including a

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Speaker 1: Native American boy he had kidnapped during the genocide committed

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Speaker 1: in King Philip's war. He needed more servants for his

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Speaker 1: large home and happened upon Jenny walking along the road

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Speaker 1: one day. Being a woman, and especially one of color,

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Speaker 1: her legal status was inconsequential. Not willing to give up

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Speaker 1: her freedom, forty three year old Jenny sought out an

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Speaker 1: attorney willing to hear her case. Now, in most of

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Speaker 1: the colonies, enslaved people had no right to counsel. Massachusett

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Speaker 1: was different, though, and permitted them to bring civil suits

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Speaker 1: to court. Despite this, it still took her three years

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Speaker 1: to find an attorney willing to hear her out. Attorney

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Speaker 1: Benjamin Kent filed her case with the court on January

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Speaker 1: seventeen sixty two. Whipple was furious. He believed she had

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Speaker 1: no right to sue him for any reason. For starters,

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Speaker 1: she was married and being a man's property, he argued

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Speaker 1: that she had no identity of her own, therefore, without

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Speaker 1: her husband's permission, she had no right to sue, and

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Speaker 1: the courts agreed. They reasoned that because she wasn't a spinstress,

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Speaker 1: she had no rights in court. In short, enslaved people

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Speaker 1: could bring a case to court, but married women of

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Speaker 1: any color or status could not. The judge didn't even

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Speaker 1: address the kidnapping. Kent was a shrewd lawyer, though, and

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Speaker 1: so he called into question the validity of Jenny's marriages.

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Speaker 1: You see, he knew that the law provided an fortunate loophole,

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Speaker 1: since enslaved people were not legally allowed to marry. Both

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Speaker 1: of her marriages were void on account of her partner's

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Speaker 1: status is no matter what her own. It took another

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Speaker 1: four years before the Essex Superior Court of Judicature in

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Speaker 1: Salem agreed to hear her case. Now Jenny the spinstress

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Speaker 1: had been granted a trial by Jerry. Just as Jenny

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Speaker 1: couldn't provide a birth certificate, Whipple couldn't provide a bill

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Speaker 1: of sale. So Kent reminded the court of the state's

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Speaker 1: anti miscegenation statute that made his client a free woman

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Speaker 1: by her white mother. In closing, he told the court,

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Speaker 1: I shall not enter into the right of some men

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Speaker 1: to slave others. The judge himself owned several enslaved people. However,

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Speaker 1: the jury ruled in Jenny's favor, ordering her immediate release

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Speaker 1: and awarding her damages. Whipple didn't face any charges of kidnapping.

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Speaker 1: Jenny became the first person in the colony's history to

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Speaker 1: be granted her freedom in a court March five of

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Speaker 1: seventeen sixty. She walked out of the courtroom a free woman.

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Speaker 1: Her liberation came at a time when citizens in Massachusetts

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Speaker 1: began to rise up against England for their own independence.

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Speaker 1: A close and prominent friend of Kent's who had attended

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Speaker 1: the trial, stated that liberty had been restored to Jenny

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Speaker 1: slu Kent went on to represent other such cases over

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Speaker 1: the next several years. He encouraged his high profile friend

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Speaker 1: to include a declaration in the Massachusetts state Constitution that

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Speaker 1: all men are born free and equal. That friend was

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Speaker 1: John Adams. I'm Lauren Bogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. Records

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Speaker 1: don't show exactly where in Virginia he was born. The

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Speaker 1: births and deaths of enslaved African or Native Americans were

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Speaker 1: rarely registered as of eighteen forty. What the records do

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Speaker 1: show is that as an adult, Madison Washington appeared to

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Speaker 1: have been an enslaved cook who kept his eyes on

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Speaker 1: freedom for himself and his wife, Susan. When the opportunity

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Speaker 1: presented itself one night, they took the chance to slip away. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: while Washington escaped, his wife didn't quite make it off

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Speaker 1: the property. He stuck to the plan, though, determined that

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Speaker 1: he'd eventually figure out how to free her. He trusted

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Speaker 1: the abolitionists who operated safe houses to help him make

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Speaker 1: a safe journey north. They supplied him with forged papers,

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Speaker 1: and the occasional stranger provided food and the place to

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Speaker 1: sleep at night. Mostly, though, he relied on luck, and

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Speaker 1: perhaps miraculously, he made it to Canada, a Britain had

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Speaker 1: abolished slavery years before, and since Canada was under British rule,

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Speaker 1: Washington became a freeman once he stepped foot across the border.

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Speaker 1: Before he left Virginia, he and his wife had made

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Speaker 1: a pact if only one of them made it to Canada,

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Speaker 1: they'd work until they had enough money to buy the

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Speaker 1: other's freedom. And so Washington found steady work with a

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Speaker 1: farmer called Mr. Dixon. He earned a fair wage and

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Speaker 1: saved what he could, but the price set for his

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Speaker 1: wife proved too high for him to afford. At his

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Speaker 1: current pace, he figured it would take nearly five years

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Speaker 1: to save up the money. By then, anything could happen.

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Speaker 1: She might be sold off, or fall ill, or be

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Speaker 1: killed before he could buy her. For Washington, freedom meant

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Speaker 1: nothing without his Susan. Dixon tried to talk him out

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Speaker 1: of leaving. Had been lucky to escape, luckier still to

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Speaker 1: have made it to Canada. He warned Washington of the severe,

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Speaker 1: if not fatal, consequences if he were caught. Washington thanked

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Speaker 1: him for the job, but left in eighteen forty one

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Speaker 1: and headed back south. When he reached Rochester, New York,

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Speaker 1: he met with one Lindley Murray Moore, the president of

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Speaker 1: the Rochester Anti Slavery Society. The More family was also

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Speaker 1: part of the Underground Railroad, a network of paths and

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Speaker 1: safe houses foreign slaved African Americans trying to escape. While

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Speaker 1: staying with the Moors, Washington tried to hire a slave

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Speaker 1: steeler to rescue his wife, but none took the job.

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Speaker 1: Without another option, he'd have to risk returning to Virginia

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Speaker 1: to free her himself. With donations from other abolitionists, Washington

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Speaker 1: collected enough money to help make his trip easier. From

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Speaker 1: New York, he made it to Virginia, but that's where

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Speaker 1: his luck ran out. He made it back to the

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Speaker 1: plantation and was captured and re enslaved. He expected the

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Speaker 1: usual violent physical punishment, such as a whipping, but his

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Speaker 1: owner decided on a different path. He chose to sell Washington.

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Speaker 1: If he whipped him, he'd leave scars, a telltale signed

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Speaker 1: future owners of a rebellious nature. He sold Washington to

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Speaker 1: a slave trader, Thomas Macargo, frequently purchased large numbers of

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Speaker 1: enslaved people and sold them to other parts of the

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Speaker 1: country or as part of the Atlantic Slave t aid

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Speaker 1: the human trafficking was of lucrative business, and ma Cargo

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Speaker 1: had plans to sell Washington and twenty six others had

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Speaker 1: purchased at the auction blocks in New Orleans. In late

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Speaker 1: October of eighteen forty one, Washington was loaded onto the

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Speaker 1: ship Creole. The ship, along with the one hundred and

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Speaker 1: nine enslaved people aboard, belonged to the Johnston Epperson Company

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Speaker 1: of Richmond, Virginia. Along with the human cargo, the ship

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Speaker 1: carried tobacco, plus eight additional enslaved persons belonging to the traders,

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Speaker 1: and a paid crew, ringing the total to a hundred

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Speaker 1: and thirty five people on board. The captain, Robert Answer,

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Speaker 1: felt confident enough that his human cargo was docile that

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Speaker 1: he brought along his wife, four year old daughter, and

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Speaker 1: fifteen year old niece. It was a bold move, conditions

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Speaker 1: for even the paid sailors aboard such cargo ships weren't

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Speaker 1: exactly the best, and the conditions the human cargo were

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Speaker 1: subjected to could understandably make them anything but docile. Washington

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Speaker 1: was assigned to the job of head cook for the

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Speaker 1: enslaved persons, allowing him to stay on deck most of

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Speaker 1: the day while he supervised his crew, He also had

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Speaker 1: the opportunity to talk to the sailors. He got to

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Speaker 1: know their routines and who was who in the hierarchy.

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Speaker 1: Slave traders considered their cargo no better than live stock.

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Speaker 1: They'd been bought as cheaply as possible, kept in crowded conditions,

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Speaker 1: and fed just enough to insure top dollar the auction block.

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Speaker 1: To Washington's shock, he learned that his wife had been

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Speaker 1: sold too, and was in the cargo hold, though he

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Speaker 1: wasn't permitted to see her. Slave ships, like the Creole

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Speaker 1: were either built specifically or converted for transporting human cargo,

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Speaker 1: and often referred to as guinea men. Such a ship's

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Speaker 1: worth was determined by how many trafficked people it could carry.

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Speaker 1: The holes were divided into holes, one for men and

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Speaker 1: another for women. Transatlantic ships usually shackled people to the

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Speaker 1: hole's planks, though the creole didn't chain it's human cargo.

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Speaker 1: The cell doors of the overcrowded hold remained locked. The

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Speaker 1: conditions were unhygienic. Disease was common, leading to a roughly

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Speaker 1: fifteen percent mortality rate. The fasterest ship made it to

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Speaker 1: its destination, the better. At night, some of the ship's

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Speaker 1: officers selected women to take to their quarters, returning them

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Speaker 1: to the holding area the next morning. Not all enslaved

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Speaker 1: people were kept in the holds, though some, like Washington,

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Speaker 1: were allowed above deck. Being the cook, he and a

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Speaker 1: handful of others were permitted to move about the ship

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Speaker 1: to perform their duties. Usually they were watched closely, but

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Speaker 1: as he began to notice, usually didn't mean always. Before long,

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Speaker 1: Washington had formed a dangerous idea. He began to feel

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Speaker 1: out fellow captives who also had deck privileges, and some

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Speaker 1: of them he had met before being sold. Others were

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Speaker 1: new to him, and soon enough, nineteen others agreed to

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Speaker 1: his plan in a plan for mutiny. It almost didn't

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Speaker 1: happen when William Merritt, one of the slave traders, went

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Speaker 1: down into the hold where the women were kept on

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Speaker 1: November seven, eight forty one. He was surprised to find

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Speaker 1: Washington there. He demanded the cook take himself above deck immediately.

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Speaker 1: Washington initially did as asked, but he didn't disclose the

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Speaker 1: weapon had confiscated earlier. After the two men reached the deck,

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Speaker 1: Washington shoved Merit to the ground. The two struggled, and

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Speaker 1: Washington managed to take the slave trader's pistol from him.

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Speaker 1: At some point, another enslaved man, Elijah Morris, joined the

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Speaker 1: fray and one. Another member of the crew saw what

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Speaker 1: was going on and raised the alarm. Morris shot him.

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Speaker 1: When nut shot rang out, Washington called out to the

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Speaker 1: others that their mutiny had begun, and the rest of

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Speaker 1: the mutineers throughout the ship extinguished all of the lamps,

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Speaker 1: throwing the decks below into darkness. They surrounded the staterooms

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Speaker 1: and overpowered the crewmen, taking their weapons. A couple of

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Speaker 1: mutineers went after the slave traders, first killing one by

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Speaker 1: throwing him overboard. One of the mutineers was seriously injured

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Speaker 1: in the fight and later died in scuffle, the captain

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Speaker 1: was wounded. His wife, daughter, and niece remained unharmed but

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Speaker 1: kept under guard. A couple of the mutineers were also

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Speaker 1: injured but would survive. Washington called out to not kill

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Speaker 1: anyone else, and with the situation under control, the men listened.

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Speaker 1: During the confusion, the first mate, Gifford and the wounded

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Speaker 1: captain had vanished. Eventually, one of the mutineers found the

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Speaker 1: two hiding on the main masts platform. One of the

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Speaker 1: enslaved men shouted for them to come down or had

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Speaker 1: shoot them both. Gifford descended, where one of the ringleaders

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Speaker 1: placed a musket to his chest. By one am, Washington

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Speaker 1: had control of the Creole. They had gotten this far,

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Speaker 1: but had no idea what to do next. One of

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Speaker 1: the mutineers suggested the Bahamas, since they were under British

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Speaker 1: rule and had outlawed slavery. By morning, they forced first

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Speaker 1: Mate Gifford to steer toward Nassau. Early on November ninety one,

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Speaker 1: the Creole sailed into Nassau Harbor. When quarantine officers boarded,

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Speaker 1: Gifford reported the mutiny. Since the captain was injured and

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Speaker 1: Gifford had taken over as acting commander. He requested the

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Speaker 1: ship be watched while the crew went ashore for medical treatment.

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Speaker 1: He also asked for guards to prevent their human cargo

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Speaker 1: from leaving the ship. If an enslaved person stepped on

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Speaker 1: the shore, they'd be free. The quarantine officers obliged as

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Speaker 1: a temporary measure, and Gifford would need to speak with

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Speaker 1: the proper authorities before the ship would be allowed passage

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Speaker 1: on to New Orleans. The first mate up with Counsel

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Speaker 1: John Bacon. The mutiny and the human cargo were unusual circumstances,

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Speaker 1: and the matter was taken to Colonel Sir Francis Cockburn,

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Speaker 1: the governor. Instead of giving an answer straight away, he

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Speaker 1: required paperwork and reports in order to proceed with an investigation.

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Speaker 1: Keeping the ship just offshore meant wasted time. The longer

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Speaker 1: the ordeal took, the more of the Creole's cargo would die,

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Speaker 1: and to Gifford that amounted to a loss of money.

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Speaker 1: He tried a plea bargain. He asked that the authorities

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Speaker 1: detained the mutineers and allow him to continue onward to

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Speaker 1: New Orleans. Cockburn refused. Nassau had no jurisdiction regarding the mutiny.

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Speaker 1: And then he ordered everyone on the ship detained until

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Speaker 1: the Secretary of State in London weighed in. Meanwhile, they

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Speaker 1: would proceed with their own investigation. The hired crew of

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Speaker 1: the Creole found themselves unwelcome among the black population in Nassau.

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Speaker 1: Not surprising really, most have been enslaved before it and

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Speaker 1: outlawed it. Even white members of the community would mutter

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Speaker 1: under their breath, there goes another one of the damned

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Speaker 1: pirates and slavers. Depositions were set to start the following Monday,

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Speaker 1: but due to Captain Ensore's injuries, were called off on Thursday.

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Speaker 1: The Creole's crew testified that the mutineers had acted savagely,

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Speaker 1: trying to kill any white person they could. Meanwhile, through

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Speaker 1: all this, the ship remained guarded more to prevent the

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Speaker 1: crew from sailing off in the middle of the night

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Speaker 1: than to prevent anyone from stepping ashore. No matter how,

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Speaker 1: Gifford and the others argued that the people aboard were

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Speaker 1: as much cargo as the tobacco. The Nassau government remained unmoved.

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Speaker 1: Considering the potential loss of the valuable cargo. Gifford convinced

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Speaker 1: his counsel Bacon, to help him release the ship. The

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Speaker 1: plan entailed taking weapons from two other American ships in

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Speaker 1: the port and sneaking them onto the Creole. Gifford had

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Speaker 1: already gained approval from one of the other ship's captains.

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Speaker 1: Once the weapons were aboard, the Creole's crew would overpower

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Speaker 1: the Bahamian and British guards, forced them off the ship,

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Speaker 1: and the Creole would be on her way. Of course,

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Speaker 1: the British soldiers would send a ship after them, but

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Speaker 1: Gifford knew the Creole was fast. Slave ships had to

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Speaker 1: quickly transport their human cargo, not only to prevent disease

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Speaker 1: and death, but to avoid pirates. And pirates sometimes freed

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Speaker 1: enslaved people or took them on his crew, and Gifford

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Speaker 1: knew that pirates who had once been enslaved were bad

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Speaker 1: news for traders. But he thought that all the Creole

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Speaker 1: had to do was sail to the small island of

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Speaker 1: Indian Key off the coast of Florida, where he hoped

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Speaker 1: to find an American warship that would protect them. A

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Speaker 1: suspicious Bahamian guard watched the activity aboard the neighboring American ship.

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Speaker 1: Men loaded weapons onto a small boat and concealed them

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Speaker 1: in a flag. When they headed toward the Creole, he

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Speaker 1: alerted British officers. Twenty four British soldiers pointed their muskets

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Speaker 1: at the approaching boat and ordered them to turn back.

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Speaker 1: A major incident had been avoided. Had the crew of

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Speaker 1: the Creole used force against the Bahamian and British guards,

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Speaker 1: it could have caused a diplomatic conflict between the United

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Speaker 1: States and Britain. Boards spread throughout the island about the

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Speaker 1: fate of the people held aboard the Creole. Bahamians freed

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Speaker 1: during the eighteen thirty three British Abolition Act took the

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00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,880
Speaker 1: small boats and surrounded the ship. In protest. They loudly

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00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,120
Speaker 1: demanded the men, women and children held on board be released.

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Speaker 1: As soon as the crew of the Creole had maneuvered

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Speaker 1: out of one dangerous situation, they found themselves dropped right

292
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Speaker 1: into another. The attempted escape and the growing crowd demanding

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Speaker 1: the captive's freedom forced the governor to make a quick decision.

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Speaker 1: He didn't want to risk dissent among his people on

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Speaker 1: top of the situation at hand with the Americans. He

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Speaker 1: canceled the remaining depositions and ordered everyone removed from the

297
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:04,600
Speaker 1: Creole and brought ashore for Washington. The moment was bitter sweet,

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Speaker 1: and technically he and his cohorts were free. His wife,

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Speaker 1: if she were still alive in the cargo hold, would

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00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:15,600
Speaker 1: live as a free woman. For himself and the other uprisers, however,

301
00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:21,080
Speaker 1: there was the matter of mutiny and murder. Guards took

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Speaker 1: Washington and eighteen of his co conspirators into custody. British

303
00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,200
Speaker 1: soldiers began escorting those left in the holds to shore,

304
00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:32,720
Speaker 1: granting them their freedom. Five turned down the offer, choosing

305
00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:36,040
Speaker 1: to stay aboard the ship, perhaps fearing a trick or

306
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,240
Speaker 1: preferring the devil they knew. With that the ship's captain

307
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Speaker 1: and his crew were finally free to leave Nassau. The

308
00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,280
Speaker 1: Creole arrived in New Orleans on December two. When financially

309
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,880
Speaker 1: interested parties found out there were only five trafficked people

310
00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,040
Speaker 1: on board, they were outraged and demanded the others be

311
00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:58,960
Speaker 1: returned to the States. The tension between the United States

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00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,720
Speaker 1: and Britain row The U s Secretary of State at

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00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,800
Speaker 1: the time, Daniel Webster, declared the Nassau Governor's act violation

314
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Speaker 1: of the Law of Nations and the u s Minister

315
00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,560
Speaker 1: to Great Britain contended that per the Constitution, enslaved people

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00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:16,560
Speaker 1: were the property of the United States, and thus that

317
00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:22,359
Speaker 1: Nassau authorities had seized American property. British officials disagreed, since

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00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:25,399
Speaker 1: they no longer recognized slavery. They argued that the US

319
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,560
Speaker 1: had no power to hold the formerly enslaved people from

320
00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:33,480
Speaker 1: the Creole without criminal charges. Despite American officials demand to

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00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:39,399
Speaker 1: return their cargo and contended property, Nassau refused. Britain and

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Speaker 1: America had no extradition treaties between them. Southerners called for

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Speaker 1: Britain to compensate them for their losses. When even that

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00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:51,760
Speaker 1: request was denied, relations between America and Britain were further strained.

325
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Speaker 1: It's estimated that the average cost for an enslaved person

326
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Speaker 1: was between eight hundred and fifteen hundred dollars, With the

327
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:02,840
Speaker 1: number of people aboard, that was about a hundred and

328
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,520
Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars total, a considerable amount of money for

329
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Speaker 1: the time. Two people who had been held aboard the

330
00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:14,639
Speaker 1: Creole died shortly after their release. Without extradition laws, the

331
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:16,879
Speaker 1: rest of the men, women, and children from the ship

332
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Speaker 1: were welcome to stay in Nassa or go wherever they wished.

333
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Speaker 1: Most chose to stay, though about fifty set off for Jamaica.

334
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Speaker 1: Either way, they were free and no longer in reach

335
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:34,080
Speaker 1: of the slave traders. Washington and the other mutineers remained

336
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,600
Speaker 1: in jail until the trial. The United States claimed that

337
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,200
Speaker 1: because the crime had been committed on an American ship,

338
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:44,360
Speaker 1: the trial should take place in the States. London saw

339
00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:47,119
Speaker 1: it differently and stated that the trial would be held

340
00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:51,879
Speaker 1: in Nassau. In response, American President John Tyler released the

341
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:58,119
Speaker 1: Bahamian Council's deposition to the newspapers. New Orleans plantation owners

342
00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,520
Speaker 1: raged that the British had, in their eyes, robbed them

343
00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,840
Speaker 1: in their compatriots of US property. Now they waited with

344
00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:11,320
Speaker 1: anticipation for what would become of the mutineers. The Secretary

345
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,639
Speaker 1: of State Daniel Webster demanded Nassau's government to return the

346
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,800
Speaker 1: men to the United States on charges of mutiny and murder,

347
00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,040
Speaker 1: and he said the Bahamian government had no right to

348
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:26,080
Speaker 1: interfere with an American ship, citizens, or cargo. It would

349
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,520
Speaker 1: have been a death sentence for Washington and the others. Remember,

350
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 1: in the States, enslaved people weren't allowed to speak in

351
00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,119
Speaker 1: their own defense, to hire counsel or to even be questioned.

352
00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,840
Speaker 1: This naturally limited their ability to tell their side of

353
00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:44,119
Speaker 1: the story. NASA, though didn't have the same laws in place.

354
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Speaker 1: Anyone standing trial, was allowed to speak on their behalf

355
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:52,679
Speaker 1: a question, accusers or witnesses, and signed depositions before the trial,

356
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,520
Speaker 1: which was scheduled for April, though two of the collaborators died,

357
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Speaker 1: one from wounds sustained during the battle and the other

358
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:05,200
Speaker 1: from natural causes. On April sixteenth of eighteen forty two,

359
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:09,720
Speaker 1: the Nassau Court debated the case of the remaining seventeen mutineers.

360
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Speaker 1: After some discussion about jurisdiction and the legal location of

361
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,240
Speaker 1: the events, Washington and the others were informed of the

362
00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 1: court's decision. It has pleased God, The Chief Justice told them,

363
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Speaker 1: to set you free from the bonds of slavery. May

364
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Speaker 1: you hereafter lead lives of good and faithful subjects of

365
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Speaker 1: Her Majesty's government. The men were free and could choose

366
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Speaker 1: what to do with their lives. All seventeen stayed in Nassau.

367
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Speaker 1: The captives on the Creole hadn't been the first the

368
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:45,320
Speaker 1: Bahamian government had freed from American ships four slaving brigs

369
00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:49,479
Speaker 1: had found themselves shipwrecked in their territory. However, the Creole

370
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,080
Speaker 1: contained the largest number of trafficked people, and its cruise

371
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,399
Speaker 1: mutiny had been the most successful uprising among enslaved people

372
00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:01,640
Speaker 1: in American history. Back in the States, insurance companies initially

373
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,000
Speaker 1: refused to pay the claims that Louisiana slave owners filed

374
00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:09,520
Speaker 1: for lost property. Several lawsuits emerged against the companies over

375
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,640
Speaker 1: financial losses stemming from the revolt. The majority of those

376
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:17,760
Speaker 1: cases were consolidated, much like class action lawsuits of today.

377
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:24,040
Speaker 1: Eventually that case went before the Louisiana Supreme Court. The

378
00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:28,280
Speaker 1: two countries involved ultimately reached an agreement in eighteen forty two.

379
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,760
Speaker 1: The British repaid the losses the following year, totaling roughly

380
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:38,960
Speaker 1: a hundred thousand dollars. And what happened to Washington? His wife,

381
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,160
Speaker 1: Susan had stayed on the island awaiting her husband's fate.

382
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,879
Speaker 1: While no one really knows what became of them afterward,

383
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,199
Speaker 1: some believed the couple was finally able to live the

384
00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,040
Speaker 1: free life they had always dreamed of. It might not

385
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:55,600
Speaker 1: have played out how they envisioned it. Back in Virginia,

386
00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:07,600
Speaker 1: but ultimately their plan worked. He was born on the

387
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 1: eastern shore along the Chesapeake Bay. There were rumors that

388
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,400
Speaker 1: his father was the plantation owner. As you might imagine,

389
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 1: this didn't go over well with the plantation owner's wife,

390
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:23,320
Speaker 1: so Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was sent to another plantation

391
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:28,440
Speaker 1: twelve miles away to live with his maternal grandparents. Bailey's

392
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,600
Speaker 1: mother was allowed to visit, but only on rare occasions.

393
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 1: She managed to see her son just a handful of

394
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: times before her death when he was seven years old.

395
00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:42,240
Speaker 1: After that, his life took another turn when his owner

396
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,879
Speaker 1: sold him to the Wye House plantation. Then he was

397
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,600
Speaker 1: sold again to the Old family, who taught him to

398
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:53,840
Speaker 1: read and write. Unusual for most enslaved people, this didn't

399
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:58,359
Speaker 1: stop him from trying to escape. Though considered too defiant,

400
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:03,080
Speaker 1: the old sold him yet again. Bailey's continued efforts to

401
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,879
Speaker 1: free himself caused him to be sold or even given

402
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,919
Speaker 1: away several times more. When he turned twenty one in

403
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,159
Speaker 1: eight thirty eight, he ran again, hiding away on a

404
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 1: northbound train heading to New York City. This time he

405
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,560
Speaker 1: was successful and found his way to a safe house

406
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,600
Speaker 1: soon afterward. Anna, a woman had known while he was enslaved,

407
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:28,520
Speaker 1: followed his route and the two married. Bailey and his

408
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,840
Speaker 1: new wife moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he assisted

409
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 1: in the abolitionist movement prominent in the area. He changed

410
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:37,840
Speaker 1: his name on the suggestion of a friend who had

411
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:41,879
Speaker 1: read a novel by Sir Walter Scott. He became a

412
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,800
Speaker 1: preacher and a writer, and used his new professions to

413
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:49,000
Speaker 1: shed light on human injustices. He believed that all people,

414
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:53,880
Speaker 1: no matter their race, color, sex, were equal, and as

415
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:57,400
Speaker 1: an avid reader, he came across the story of Madison Washington.

416
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,800
Speaker 1: During a speech in Orc, Ireland in eighteen forty five,

417
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:07,560
Speaker 1: he praised Washington for his passion for freedom. His words, writings,

418
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 1: and speeches on slavery caught the attention of the Rochester

419
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:15,040
Speaker 1: Ladies Anti Slavery Society. They planned on publishing a short

420
00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,960
Speaker 1: story collection entitled Autographs for Freedom and asked if he

421
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,520
Speaker 1: would consider writing a piece for it. The Adventures of

422
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:26,400
Speaker 1: Madison Washington would be his only fictional work, although he'd

423
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:30,720
Speaker 1: go on to write other biographical narratives. The NAVELA was

424
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 1: published in eighteen fifty two, ten years after Washington had

425
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:38,840
Speaker 1: won his freedom. The story, although mostly true, had an

426
00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,119
Speaker 1: almost playlike quality to it, opening with the scene that

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Speaker 1: Washington might have had with the Canadian farmer. Eventually, the

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Speaker 1: work found its way to the newspapers as a three

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Speaker 1: part serial, coming out shortly after Harriet Beecher Stowe's uncle

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Speaker 1: Tom's cabin. The Navelo was met with acclaim and people

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00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 1: clamored for more. Did have to wait, though, as the

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Speaker 1: preacher continued his work for equality in freedom for a

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Speaker 1: few more years. Later, during the Civil War, he fought

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Speaker 1: for black men's rights to serve in combat, and after

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Speaker 1: the war ended, he wrote his autobiography, which was published

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Speaker 1: just three years before his death. You've heard of it,

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Speaker 1: The Life and Times of Frederick Douglas. There's more to

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Speaker 1: this story. Stick around after this brief sponsor break to

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Speaker 1: hear all about it. He started young. By the age

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Speaker 1: of just thirteen, William was being hired out, a common

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00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 1: experience for enslaved black people. As of eight seven, and

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Speaker 1: most of William's work was aboard steamboats on the Missouri River.

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Speaker 1: His owner was a St. Louis physician named Dr. John Young,

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Speaker 1: who also owned the boy's mother, Elizabeth. William had six

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Speaker 1: brothers and sisters, but his father had been white, and

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00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 1: he had a lighter skin color than his siblings. His

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00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,120
Speaker 1: father was the cousin of Doctor Young. This cousin was

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00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 1: a planter on a nearby plantation. The man acknowledged William

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00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:21,440
Speaker 1: as his son and asked Young to never sell him.

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00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 1: In eighteen thirty two, William and his mother tried to escape,

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00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: only to be caught and returned to doctor Young. So

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Speaker 1: seeing the pair is too much trouble and believing he

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Speaker 1: no longer needed their services, doctor Young sold them, but

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Speaker 1: while Elizabeth was purchased by a slave trader working out

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00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 1: of New Orleans, William's destination ended up being fairly local.

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Speaker 1: Not long after, he was sold again, this time to

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Speaker 1: a riverboat captain, but on January one of eighteen thirty four,

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Speaker 1: he made a break for freedom while the boat was

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00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:57,320
Speaker 1: docked in Cincinnati, Ohio. A short while later, he found

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Speaker 1: assistance through a Quaker man by the name of Wells Brown.

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00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:05,160
Speaker 1: Brown gave him clothes, money, and food, and also eventually

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Speaker 1: taught him to read and write. Ever, thankful for the

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Speaker 1: Quaker's kindness, William added the man's name to his own, and,

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Speaker 1: after moving on to make a life for himself. He

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Speaker 1: stuck with his writing, almost as though trying to make

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Speaker 1: up for all the years he hadn't been able to. Later,

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Speaker 1: William found work on a steamboat on Lake Erie, but

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Speaker 1: when he wasn't working he helped enslaved people as a

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Speaker 1: member of the Underground Railroad. By eighteen forty two had

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00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,240
Speaker 1: helped sixty nine people reach Canada, and that was also

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00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,760
Speaker 1: how he met Elizabeth Schooner, and the two soon married

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Speaker 1: and started a family. Over time, William became an avid

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Speaker 1: abolitionist and prolific writer, publishing work on causes such as abolition, temperance,

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Speaker 1: women suffrage, and prison reform. But part of his work

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00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,200
Speaker 1: involved giving speeches, which meant a lot of travel. All

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Speaker 1: this time away took a toll on his marriage, and

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00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:03,920
Speaker 1: by a forty seven it fell to pieces. In the aftermath,

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Speaker 1: he gained custody of their two daughters, and the three

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00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:11,080
Speaker 1: moved to Boston, where he continued to write. His first

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Speaker 1: short story sold ten thousand copies within just a couple

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Speaker 1: of years, becoming almost as popular as those written by

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Speaker 1: Frederick Douglas. By eighteen forty nine, William and his daughters

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00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,040
Speaker 1: were living in England. He spent most of his time

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00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: lecturing and writing, and remained quite prolific during his time there.

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Speaker 1: His most famous, or perhaps most infamous work, was the

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Speaker 1: novel Clotel, which was something of a scandal. The story

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00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,680
Speaker 1: centered around two fictional daughters born to Thomas Jefferson and

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00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:44,640
Speaker 1: a fictional woman he enslaved. It was inspired by the

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Speaker 1: former president's real life relationship with Sally Hemmings, whom he owned.

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Speaker 1: The Clotel is considered the first full length novel published

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Speaker 1: by an African American, finding success in Britain before being

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Speaker 1: printed in America in eighteen fifty The Fugitives a law

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00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,440
Speaker 1: passed in the United States making it unsafe for William

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Speaker 1: to return. In eighteen fifty three, a British couple paid

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00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:10,160
Speaker 1: for his freedom, ensuring that whenever he did return to

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Speaker 1: the States he would be safe. The couple had also

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00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:17,160
Speaker 1: purchased freedom for another man a few years earlier, Frederick Douglas.

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00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,960
Speaker 1: William returned to the States in eighteen fifty four and

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00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:25,760
Speaker 1: returned also to the tour circuit. He finally found love

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00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,120
Speaker 1: again in eighteen sixty at the age of forty four,

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00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:32,320
Speaker 1: marrying twenty two year old Anna Elizabeth Gray. The couple

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00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,480
Speaker 1: settled into a comfortable life and welcomed to children of

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Speaker 1: their own. Sadly, cholera would take the life of their

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00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,320
Speaker 1: son just a few years later, and their daughter passed

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Speaker 1: away due to typhoid fever. To ease the pain from

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Speaker 1: the losses, William found time to help the Union recruit

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Speaker 1: men for enlistment during the Civil War, and while the

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00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,760
Speaker 1: conflict raged, he published another book on the history of

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Speaker 1: black soldiers and their fight to help the Union against

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Speaker 1: the Confederacy. Like Frederick Douglas, he also wrote about Madison Washington,

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Speaker 1: though his version was more of a historic biography. Over

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Speaker 1: the years, William Brown wrote in multiple genres, anything from

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Speaker 1: travel articles to fiction, to biographies to a play, and

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00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,400
Speaker 1: it's clear from the life he lived that Brown, just

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Speaker 1: like Douglas and Washington before him, understood the powerful thing

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Speaker 1: about freedom. It gave a person the chance to make

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Speaker 1: their own stories heard. American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum.

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Speaker 1: This episode was written by Michelle Muto, researched by Ali Steed,

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00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 1: and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive

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00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:53,920
Speaker 1: producers Aaron Mackey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick To learn

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Speaker 1: more about the show, visit grim and mild dot com.

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Speaker 1: From more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,

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00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:12,080
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. M