When most Americans think of slavery, they do not picture the colonial or revolutionary eras. Yet, in fact, one of six inhabitants of the thirteen original colonies was enslaved.
The Escapes of David George: an Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution (St. Martin’s Press, 2026) reveals a remarkable, untold experience of the American revolutionary period ― a Black man’s quest for the freedom espoused by our Founders, but denied him and other enslaved people.
What does it mean to escape? For David George, who was born enslaved in Virginia in the 1740s, the answer was never simple. He escaped his enslaver’s plantation, only to be captured by the Muscogee Creek.
He escaped the creek, only to find himself enslaved again at a South Carolina plantation.
He built a life of faith and family there, only to escape once more to the British lines during the Revolution. From British lines, he then escaped to Nova Scotia, and finally to Sierra Leone.
Each escape was real. None was final.
On a recent Ben Franklin’s World podcast author Gregory E. O’Malley discusses the Escapes of David George.
Gregory E O’Malley is professor of history at UC Santa Cruz. His first book, Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade of British America, 1619-1807, won the Forkosch, Rawley, Owsley, and Elsa Goveia awards. He is a key contributor to the SlaveVoyages.org, consulted on The 1619 Project, and lectures widely on the slave trade and related subjects.
You can listen to the podcast here.
Ben Franklin’s World is an award-winning podcast. It’s for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our world. Each episode features an interview with a historian who shares their unique insights into our early American past. It is a production of Clio Digital Media.
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