Escape on the Pearl

The largest mass escape of fugitive slaves in American history is thrillingly chronicled in this “readable . . . valuable account” ( Kirkus ). On the evening of April 15, 1848, nearly eighty enslaved Americans attempted one of history's most audacious escapes. Setting sail from Washington, D.C., on a schooner named the Pearl , the fugitives began a daring 225-mile journey to freedom in the North—and put in motion a furiously fought battle over slavery in America that would consume Congress, the