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Henry Bibb Remembers Running Away (with text supports)

Henry Bibb was born in Kentucky to a slave mother and her owner, Kentucky state senator James Bibb. His brothers and sisters were sold away when he was a child, and Bibb was also sold frequently—he lived in at least seven southern states. After trying to escape several times, he finally reached Canada in 1837. However, he returned to Kentucky a year later to get his wife and child and was recaptured. He made a final, successful escape in 1841 and became an active abolitionist in Detroit. When passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it dangerous to live in Detroit, he fled to Canada where he founded a school, church, and several antislavery societies. This description of his attempts to escape slavery comes from his autobiography, which was published in 1849.


Source | [Henry Bibb], Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave (1849), 15-17.
Creator | Henry Bibb
Item Type | Biography/Autobiography
Cite This document | Henry Bibb, “Henry Bibb Remembers Running Away (with text supports),” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed March 28, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/2011.

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