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It was Christmastime, and they had a brief sliver of freedom that they hadn’t felt all year long. Many enslaved people used the relaxedness of the holiday season to plot their escapes.
Typically, enslaved people were given between Christmas and New Year’s Day to visit their families on other plantations. “This time we regarded as our own, by the grace of our masters; and we, therefore, used or abused it nearly as we pleased,” Frederick Douglass wrote. Many took advantage of the time, and it paid off.
The Crafts: Ellen and William Craft secured their holiday travel “passes” well ahead of Christmas–they were plotting heavy. They dressed in disguise; Ellen cut her hair short and passed as a white enslaver while William posed as her servant. They traveled by plenty of trains and steamboats to Philadelphia, arriving on Christmas Day.
Harriet Tubman: Enslavers gave Harriet Tubman’s three brothers “passes” to have dinner with their mother. On Christmas Eve, Tubman headed to Maryland’s Eastern Shore after learning they would sell her brothers on the 26th. They never showed up to dinner because Tubman had guided them to freedom in Philadelphia instead.
We’ve always outsmarted them in the most genius ways. Our “escapes” from the system of white supremacy this holiday season can come in many forms: vacation, serving our communities, and connecting with our loved ones.