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thecaptainsquarters 's review for:
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Ahoy there mateys! Me prior idea of Washington was basically a line of a Jonathan Coulton song about presidents which states, “Washington came first and he was perfect.” And truly that is what I thought about him. He didn’t seem to have a stain on him and people talked about him like they wished he could live forever and be president forever. When I first saw this title years ago, I was immediately interested. Who in the world was Ona Judge?
Ona Judge was a slave who escaped slavery to live life on her own terms. And the Washingtons were pissed. When Washington had to live in Philadelphia, then the nation’s capitol, he was warned that the law stated that if a slave lived in the state for more than six months, they had to be set free. So Washington and his wife made a plot to make sure none of their slaves were freed. They purposely sent their slaves back down south right before the six month expiration period to prevent freedom. They put a rotation system in place to achieve this. Ona Judge was Martha’s personal servant and had “privileges” that were expected to make her happy. Instead, at the age of 22 she ran away to New England to freedom.
Of course that freedom came at a cost. She was always poor and always in danger of being taken back into slavery. The Washingtons found out about her whereabouts pretty quickly. Washington severely abused his position of power trying to get her back. It was disgusting to read about.
Just be aware that unfortunately the author does repeat herself frequently and rehash facts over and over again. Not much is known about Ona’s life, so those looking for an in-depth portrayal won’t find it here. There just aren’t that many primary sources about her. Additionally the author likes to give feelings and motives to Ona and other figures where there are no historical facts to back them up. I didn’t care to know what Ona might have thought. I wish all of that nonsense would have been removed. But still, Ona deserves to have her story remembered and the less-than-positive portrayal of the esteemed Washingtons is important and worthy in its own right.
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
Ona Judge was a slave who escaped slavery to live life on her own terms. And the Washingtons were pissed. When Washington had to live in Philadelphia, then the nation’s capitol, he was warned that the law stated that if a slave lived in the state for more than six months, they had to be set free. So Washington and his wife made a plot to make sure none of their slaves were freed. They purposely sent their slaves back down south right before the six month expiration period to prevent freedom. They put a rotation system in place to achieve this. Ona Judge was Martha’s personal servant and had “privileges” that were expected to make her happy. Instead, at the age of 22 she ran away to New England to freedom.
Of course that freedom came at a cost. She was always poor and always in danger of being taken back into slavery. The Washingtons found out about her whereabouts pretty quickly. Washington severely abused his position of power trying to get her back. It was disgusting to read about.
Just be aware that unfortunately the author does repeat herself frequently and rehash facts over and over again. Not much is known about Ona’s life, so those looking for an in-depth portrayal won’t find it here. There just aren’t that many primary sources about her. Additionally the author likes to give feelings and motives to Ona and other figures where there are no historical facts to back them up. I didn’t care to know what Ona might have thought. I wish all of that nonsense would have been removed. But still, Ona deserves to have her story remembered and the less-than-positive portrayal of the esteemed Washingtons is important and worthy in its own right.
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/