Includes bibliographical references (pages [417]-426) and index
Dissidents in the conscript army -- On the run -- Whither thou goest -- A matter of some urgency -- Where to go? -- They seek a city -- The hunt -- Backward into bondage -- Profile of a runaway -- Managing human property -- Counting the cost
"From John Hope Franklin, America's foremost African American historian, comes this groundbreaking analysis of slave resistance and escape. A sweeping panorama of plantation life before the Civil War, this book reveals that slaves frequently rebelled against their masters and ran away from their plantations whenever they could. For generations, important aspects about slave life on the plantations of the American South have remained shrouded. Historians thought, for instance, that slaves were generally pliant and resigned to their roles as human chattel, and that racial violence on the plantation was an aberration."--Publisher description