It was Christmas season. As cottony white snow weighed down the world, the couple quickly put on their costumes while hidden in the cornfield. This plan was likely the most daring yet dangerous escape ever attempted. But would it work?
The woman coughed into her handkerchief, pretending to be sick – and kept her arm in a sling, so no one would ask her to sign anything. Why? Because she was illiterate – but that wasn’t the only thing she was pretending.
She also refused to let her “manservant” mingle with other enslaved Africans on the steamboat, as was the custom when traveling. Why? Because if their ruse was discovered, they’d likely be killed.
Ellen Craft and her husband, William, were ingeniously disguised. She, a lighter-skinned Black woman, dressed as a white planter traveling with her darker-skinned “slave.” No one suspected a thing! Whites couldn’t imagine Black people outsmarting them, and the Crafts used this to their advantage.
But did they make it to freedom?
Yes! The Crafts brilliantly used racist stereotypes against their oppressors to gain their freedom. To get free, we must also sometimes use the tools and knowledge we inherently possess – along with some creativity and thoughtful knowledge of our enemies’ weaknesses.