Great Dismal Swamp and Runaway slaves

donna

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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May 12, 2010
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Now Florida but always a Kentuckian
There was interesting article in our paper on this subject. It was a haven for runaway slaves. It said that thousands of people lived here and for the most part their lives were unrecorded. They lived in small communities of wooden buildings on high ground.

The Great Swamp straddles the line between North Carolina and Virginia. Today it covers over 112,000 acres. Before the Civil War, it was much larger. The site was long known as a havens for escapees. There were actually advertisements in newspapers seeking the return of slaves from the Swamp.

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote book on the Swamp. It is "Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp". It was her second novel and was published in 1856. Dred is an escaped slave. He lives in the Great Dismal Swamp, preaching angry and violent retribution for the evils of slavery and rescuing escapees from slavecatchers.

The novel is interesting in the historical context of runaway slave communities surviving for a long time in swamp areas. The swamps were places where runaways could hide and became a taboo subject for the South to discuss.

There is suppose to be a permanent exhibit this Fall by the National Park Service about the Swamp and runaways and their communities.
 
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