The Amazing Story of Madison Washington!
Guest post by Rolf Lindgren
In 1839 in Virginia, Madison Washington was a slave who decided to escape. He escaped and went through Pennsylvania and then up to Canada for freedom.
Madison Washington had an advantage for a slave. He could read and possibly write. He could read maps. And he was a cook so he had access to travel gossip.
But Madison Washington was not happy in Canada. He decided to go back to Virginia to free his wife, named Susan. On the way he traveled through Philadelphia to meet with abolitionists. They urged him not to go back to Virginia. They told Madison Washington; “You will be captured and sent to the deep south”. Interesting, this was at the exact same time as the Amistad slave case was going on.
But Madison Washington was determined to free his wife. So he went back to Virginia and freed Susan.
But then Madison Washington and Susan were captured before they got out of Virginia. And in 1841, Madison Washington, Susan, and about 130 other slaves were put on a ship called the Creole and shipped to the deep south, where slavery was considered even worse than in Virginia.
But then the amazing Madison Washington did it again! He took over the ship and freed all the slaves from the their chains!
Madison Washington threw the slave traders overboard. The other slaves wanted the entire crew executed, but Madison Washington spared their lives. He treated all the wounded. He piloted the ship to a Carribean island called Nassau that did not have slavery. There, most of the freed slaves lived happily ever after.
With approximately 130 freed slaves, this was the biggest successful slave escape in the history of the United States!
Who was Madison Washington?
Modern scholars have pored over slave records, looking for traces of Madison Washington, but none have been found. Finally, one scholar figured it out.