PBA Galleries

pp. 49-77. Disbound, housed in blue wrappers, with portion of original front wrapper laid down.

An uncommon entry in the early literature about the secret escape route of American slaves – told from the unusual standpoint of Canada, often the final destination of Black fugitives, the British colony having abolished slavery before the end of the 18th century. Includes an account of an 1860 trial that became a cause célèbre in Canada but was little known in the US on the eve of Civil War. An American fugitive slave who had reached Canada after killing a white man who tried to arrest him in Missouri, was charged with murder; a long series of legal proceedings led to his being set free on a technicality by a Canadian court, much to the approval of Canadian public opinion.