Throughout Never Caught, historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar shows how the growing free Black communities in New York, Philadelphia, and New Hampshire aided Ona Judge Staines in her quest for liberty, helping her to realize the freedom and agency she craved but struggled to feel was possible or tenable. “A startling, well-researched slave narrative that seriously questions the intentions of our first president.“ Kirkus Reviews Awards įinalist, National Book Awards, 2017.For centuries, American slaveholders used the rhetoric of paternalism and benevolence to justify the maintenance of the institution of slavery-especially as Northern states began to push back against the strict, unjust laws that held Black people in bondage for life. Even for those who know the basics, Never Caught is a crisp and compulsively readable feat of research and storytelling.” Matt Damsker, USA Today “The Ona Judge saga is a well-known matter of human bondage and presidential history, but Dunbar’s book is touted as the first full-length account of Judge’s life. “Through Dunbar’s empathetic and well-researched biography, the woman whose safety and freedom in eighteenth-century America depended upon remaining hidden, is finally given prominence in her own story rather than as aside to the Washingtons.” Shana L. The author does not stake out explicit positions on the ever-growing historiographical debates on slavery, the Revolution, the founders, and the Constitution she also does not attempt a comprehensive assessment of Washington and slavery, either in comparison with other founders or on Washington's own terms.” David N.
Points of contention are confined to the citations, and overt academic theorizing is avoided. You can help by converting this section, if appropriate. This section is in list format but may read better as prose. The Washington’s never stopped searching for Ona Judge. It also details the lengths to which the Washingtons went to try and recover their "property," including using their extensive network of contacts, newspaper advertisements, and threatening legal action.ĭunbar also explores the broader historical context of slavery in the United States, including the Fugitive Slave Act and the legal and social systems that supported slavery.ĭespite the Washingtons’ efforts, Ona Judge managed to evade capture and lived the rest of her life as a fugitive slave in New Hampshire, where she married and had children. The book describes the brutal realities of slavery in the United States during the late 18th century. Dunbar describes the network of allies that Ona relied on to make her escape, as well as the extensive efforts that the Washingtons made to try and recapture her. The next section of the book focuses on Judge’s escape and the Washingtons' relentless pursuit of her. Dunbar also details the unique challenges that Judge faced as a slave in the Washingtons' household, including the pressure to conform to the expectations of her powerful and demanding owners. This includes information about the daily life of enslaved people, including backbreaking labor, cruel punishments, and the constant threat of being sold to another plantation.
The beginning of the book depicts Ona Judge and her life as a slave in the household of George and Martha Washington. The book chronicles the life of Ona Judge, an enslaved woman owned by George and Martha Washington, and her escape from the President's household in Philadelphia in 1796.
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge is a non-fiction book by American historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar, published in 2017. 2017 non-fiction book by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
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