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Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home by Richard Bell
dreesreads's review against another edition
4.0
This book was fabulously and thoroughly researched, and is yet another example of the amazing and fascinating stories out there, hiding in newspaper articles, city council minutes, and court records. At one time everyone knew of these stories due to the extensive newspaper coverage, and now no one does. These are the stories that get people interested in history, yet most students in middle and high school are still taught boring famous name-date-place history, rather than history involving regular people--tradesmen, apprentices, county officials, landowners, jury members, newsmen, abolitionist groups members, farmers, sailors, newspaper readers.
In this book Bell examines the story of 4 free black boys and 1 runaway kidnapped into slavery in Philadelphia in the 1820s. They, a woman legally purchased, and a woman kidnapped in Delaware were forced into a coffle overland to Mississippi with their small-time kidnappers. One boy (the literate one, unsurprisingly) was sold in Tuscaloosa. The rest were taken on. And then, in Mississippi, one of the boys was beaten to death by his kidnapper. And then another told his entire story to a potential purchaser.
And what did that man do? He told. He got the courts involved. The county official wrote to the mayor of Philadelphia, and in the end--well over a year later--the kidnap victims were freed and returned home.
The story itself is amazing--the cast of characters that made this seemingly impossible story happen. A nearly bankrupt wannabe plantation owner, county- and state-level government officials, the mayor of Philadelphia and his high constable, judges, two Methodists, an Alabama jury, a Scottish immigrant who traveled from Philadelphia to Alabama on his own dime to testify, and random people called in on favors--all came together to get the 4 surviving kidnap victims home. So many people I would not expect to care affected the outcome of this particular instance. Mayor Watson of Philadelphia tried to rescue other victims kidnapped by the same Delaware gang, but was largely unsuccessful. Solomon Northrup chronicled his own story in Twelve Years a Slave--and while the story Bell tells only covers about 2 years, the time lag before telephones, the internet, and truly reliable mail service is astonishing. The kidnap victims spent weeks trekking overland, and then months and months essentially living as and being treated as slaves (back pay was not awarded in their freedom suit), just waiting for mail to go back and forth.
The other amazing thing about this story is the sources. And the research it took to pull them together. Court minutes and documents, newspaper articles, pamphlets, journals, legislative records, minutes from abolition groups, and so many more primary sources--they are out there, in different states and counties and archives, just waiting to be combined with their counterparts from other places.
In this book Bell examines the story of 4 free black boys and 1 runaway kidnapped into slavery in Philadelphia in the 1820s. They, a woman legally purchased, and a woman kidnapped in Delaware were forced into a coffle overland to Mississippi with their small-time kidnappers. One boy (the literate one, unsurprisingly) was sold in Tuscaloosa. The rest were taken on. And then, in Mississippi, one of the boys was beaten to death by his kidnapper. And then another told his entire story to a potential purchaser.
And what did that man do? He told. He got the courts involved. The county official wrote to the mayor of Philadelphia, and in the end--well over a year later--the kidnap victims were freed and returned home.
The story itself is amazing--the cast of characters that made this seemingly impossible story happen. A nearly bankrupt wannabe plantation owner, county- and state-level government officials, the mayor of Philadelphia and his high constable, judges, two Methodists, an Alabama jury, a Scottish immigrant who traveled from Philadelphia to Alabama on his own dime to testify, and random people called in on favors--all came together to get the 4 surviving kidnap victims home. So many people I would not expect to care affected the outcome of this particular instance. Mayor Watson of Philadelphia tried to rescue other victims kidnapped by the same Delaware gang, but was largely unsuccessful. Solomon Northrup chronicled his own story in Twelve Years a Slave--and while the story Bell tells only covers about 2 years, the time lag before telephones, the internet, and truly reliable mail service is astonishing. The kidnap victims spent weeks trekking overland, and then months and months essentially living as and being treated as slaves (back pay was not awarded in their freedom suit), just waiting for mail to go back and forth.
The other amazing thing about this story is the sources. And the research it took to pull them together. Court minutes and documents, newspaper articles, pamphlets, journals, legislative records, minutes from abolition groups, and so many more primary sources--they are out there, in different states and counties and archives, just waiting to be combined with their counterparts from other places.
kdwilliams's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating story about the Reverse Underground Railroad. A subject I did not know much about and this book really educated me on the horrors of slave traders making a profit off of free blacks that are stolen from the north and taken south to sell into slavery, most of them children. This book is about 5 boys who were stolen and sold into slavery and fought hard for their freedom, including testifying in court and their testimony was actually heard. A quote on the last page summed it up well "Their sufferings also reshaped the antislavery movement by demonstrating the emotional power of placing the sorrows of separated families and tormented children center stage". Tough subject, but a good read.
amina2002's review
3.0
I have learned so much about the reverse underground railroad. It was important to read the stories of what happened to these boys and other people's stories which were scattered in between. However I was thinking this book was just going to be about the what happened to these boys. Instead the stories were interrupted multiple times which prolonged the story for no reason.
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