Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge

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A startling and eye opening look into America s First Family, Never Caught is the powerful narrative of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington s runaway slave who risked it all to escape the nation s capital and reach freedom.When George Washington was elected president, he reluctantly left behind his beloved Mount Vernon to serve in Philadelphia, the temporary seat of the nation s capital, after a brief stay in New York In setting up his household he took Tobias Lear, his celebrated secretary, and nine slaves, including Ona Judge, about which little has been written As he grew accustomed to Northern ways, there was one change he couldn t get his arms around Pennsylvania law required enslaved people be set free after six months of residency in the state Rather than comply, Washington decided to circumvent the law Every six months he sent the slaves back down south just as the clock was about to expire.Though Ona Judge lived a life of relative comfort, the few pleasantries she was afforded were nothing compared to freedom, a glimpse of which she encountered first hand in Philadelphia So, when the opportunity presented itself one clear and pleasant spring day in Philadelphia, Judge left everything she knew to escape to New England Yet freedom would not come without its costs.At just twenty two years old, Ona became the subject of an intense manhunt led by George Washington, who used his political and personal contacts to recapture his property.Impeccably researched, historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar weaves a powerful tale and offers fascinating new scholarship on how one young woman risked it all to gain freedom from the famous founding father. Read Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge Author Erica Armstrong Dunbar – kino-fada.fr Click here to watch a video review of this book on my channel, From Beginning to Bookend Never Caught is an informative, well researched, swift read about Ona Judge George and Martha Washington.I m so glad Ona Judge s story is abroad in the world She s clearly a woman of grit, determination, resourcefulness, and strength of belief, and there are far too few women from her time period and experiences known to history But I did not really enjoy this portrayal of her story.Part of the reason for that is that, while the title, subtitle, and summary promise an exciting pursuit of a daring runaway slave, half the book is actually just historical description of the Washingtons movements I m so glad Ona Judge s story is abroad in the world She s clearly a woman of grit, determination, resourcefulness, and strength of belief, and there are far too few women from her time period and experiences known to history But I did not really enjoy this portrayal of her story.Part of the reason for that is that, while the ...The story of Ona Maria Judge, slave to President George Washington who escaped his presidential residence in Philadelphia and fled by sea to Portsmouth, New Hampshire in May 1796, may be one of the most intriguing escape narratives ever told I d first heard of Oney Judge and Washington s pursuit of her from a mind expanding history of black freed men and slaves in New Hampshire called Black Portsmouth, written by Valerie Cunningham and Mark J Sammons In this work, historian E.A Dunbar The story of Ona Maria Judge, slave to President George Washington who escaped his presidential residence in Philadelphia and fled by sea to Portsmouth, New Hampshire in May 1796, may be one of the most intriguing escape narratives ever told I d first heard of Oney Judge and Washington s pursuit of her from a mind expanding history of black freed men and slaves in New Hampshire called Black Portsmouth, written by Valerie Cunningham and Mark J Sammons In this work, historian E.A Dunbar examines and interprets details of George Washington s household in New York, Mount Vernon, and Philadelphia There are many intriguing holes in the narrative, but Dunbar hews closely to the facts she uncovered and adds her understanding of how a black slave in this period would have viewed their environment and opportunities Dunbar describes the calculation a nubile slave would make when contemplating bein...Never Caught is a thoroughly researched and moving account of a woman who refused to be property I wouldn t recommend this book to the casual reader because it can be very dry at times, so I only recommend it to those who are very interested in history I learned a lot about George and M...This book is a pop history in the vein of Erik Larson Not a compliment Oh how I wanted to love this book what a subject What a courageous person Pros Ona Judge was a complete badass This book is a quick, easy read and accessible to teenagers That s important And it really does seem to be well researched, with extensive endnotes Cons This book reads like a really strong first draft of a much better book The paragraphs and pages seem cobbled together, with a lot of repetitive phrasing This book is a pop history in the vein of Erik Larson Not a compliment Oh how I wanted to love this book what a subject What a courageous person Pros Ona Judge was a complete badass This book is a quick, easy read and accessible to teenagers That s important And it really does seem to be well researched, with extensive endnotes Cons This book reads like a really strong first draft of a much better book The paragraphs and pages seem co...This history is a blemish on the facade of freedom upon which the United States claims to be founded It turns out that George Washington wasn t so generous with slaves who decided they preferred freedom over involuntary servitude Ona Maria Judge a.k.a Oney was the personal slave attendant to Martha Washington During the first seven years of George Washington s presidential term she attended to all Martha s personal needs She was usually in attendance at social engagements as well, and This history is a blemish on the facade of freedom upon which the United States claims to be founded It turns out that George Washington wasn t so generous with slaves who decided they preferred freedom over involuntary servitude Ona Maria Judge a.k.a Oney was the personal slave attendant to Martha Washington During the first seven years of George Washington s presidential term she attended to all Martha s personal needs She was usually in attendance at social engagements as well, and thus was seen by many important people in Washington s social circles Cons...An interesting, non fiction book about Ona Judge, a woman who was one of Martha Washington s personal slaves until she ran away Ona remained a fugitive for the rest of her life This book dissects early emancipation laws in the United States and Ona s life, as well as revealing struggles in the private lives of George and Martha Washington.Ona was born to a black slave and a white, indentured servant Ona and her mother were abandoned by Ona s father after only a few yearsOna Judge learned An interesting, non fiction book about Ona Judge, a woman who was one of Martha Washington s personal slaves until she ran away Ona remained a fugitive for the rest of her life This book dissects early emancipation laws in the United States and Ona s life, as well as revealing struggles in the private lives of George and Martha Washington.Ona was born to a black slave and a white, indentured servant Ona and her mother were abandoned by Ona s father after only a few yearsOna Judge learned valuable lessons from both of her parents From her mother she would learn the power of perseverance From her father, Judge would learn that the decision to free oneself trumped everything, no matter who was left behindpg 14Author Erica Dunbar does a fairly good job bringing Ona Judge to li...2.5 stars I thinkor maybe I should say Emily would have been inclined to give the book 2.5 stars if there would have been such an option available to her in the rating system of her day ugh First, the positive Without such a book, I would not have known anything at all of Ona Judge I do know some history, took some visits to Mount Vernon, but the history of the moves of the president and therefore his slaves from Mount Vernon to NY, then Philadelphia was interesting.But, since there seems 2.5 stars I thinkor maybe I should say Emily would have been inclined to give the book 2.5 stars if there would have been such an option available to her in the rating system of her day ugh First, the positive Without such a book, I would not have known anything at all of Ona Judge I do know some history, took some visits to Mount Vernon, but the history of the moves of the president and therefore his slaves from Mount Vernon to NY, then Philadelphia was interesting.But, since there seems to be very little original source material to draw from, the author does an awful lot of speculation, and then it shows in her use of language It bothered me especially when she speculated about Ona s life after escape, as a mother, when the slave catcher came to the door and the author describes what the toddler wo...If you re listening to this book, you should probably listen to a neutral palate cleanser before listening to Hamilton Going from actual Washington to Chris Jackson is jarring Anyway, it s a wonderful short but not little work of history that uses the Washingtons and Judge to reconstruct the complexity and hypocrisy of slavery in the 18th century The book itself is cautious, indicating clearly the difference between what we can know and what we can only speculate It s a stark reminder how If you re listening to this book, you should probably listen to a neutral palate cleanser before listening to Hamilton Going from actual Washington to Chris Jackson is jarring Anyway, it s a wonderful short but not little work of history that uses the Washingtons and Judge to reconstruct the complexity and hypocrisy of slavery in the 18th century The book itself is cautious, indicating clearly the difference between what we can know and what we can only speculate It s a stark reminder ho...Not only is this a very thoroughly researched book, but it s full of thoughtfully imagined characterization of the enslaved people who so frequently invisibly inhabit stories of important historical figures Honestly, I think this would be a great text for high school students studying early ...

Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
  • English
  • 22 December 2019
  • Hardcover
  • 253 pages
  • 1501126393
  • Erica Armstrong Dunbar
  • Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge