Harriet Robinson Scott: From the Frontier to Freedom
CONTENTS A LETTER FROM DUCHESS 4 CHAPTER ONE Slavery on the Frontier 6 CHAPTER TWO The Scott Family 16 CHAPTER THREE The Battle in the Courts 24 CHAPTER FOUR The Final Decision 34 Fast Facts 42 Stop and Think 44 Glossary 45 Online Resources 46 Learn More 46 About the Authors 47 Index 48
A LETTER FROM DUCHESS When I was growing up I was never taught that enslaved people tried to escape As the descendant of formerly enslaved people I could not help but wonder if it was their fault that they were owned by others I also wondered if they were satisfied with their conditions in slavery It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned that there were black people who dreamed of freedom In college I read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl This book is an autobiography written by Harriet Jacobs Jacobs hid in an attic for seven years to escape her slaveholder Fifteen years before Jacobs fled to the attic another Harriet went to court to sue for her freedom Harriet and her husband had been enslaved their whole lives They decided to fight for their freedom in court They went through years of court trials before they were finally freed This book explores the difficulties enslaved people faced in fighting for their freedom Please join me on a journey that tells the story of the promise of freedom duchess harris 4
5 A statue in Saint Louis Missouri honors Harriet Robinson Scott and her husband Dred Scott
