{"product_id":"the-pearl-a-failed-slave-escape-on-the-potomac-9781469615004","title":"The Pearl: A Failed Slave Escape on the Potomac","description":"In the spring of 1848 seventy-six slaves from the nation's capital hid aboard a schooner called the \u003ci\u003ePearl\u003c\/i\u003e in an attempt to sail down the Potomac River and up the Chesapeake Bay to freedom in Pennsylvania. When inclement weather forced them to anchor for the night, the fugitive slaves and the ship's crew were captured and returned to Washington. Many of the slaves were sold to the Lower South, and two men sailing the \u003ci\u003ePearl\u003c\/i\u003e were tried and sentenced to prison.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecounting this harrowing tale from the preparations for escape through the participants' trial, Josephine Pacheco provides fresh insight into the lives of enslaved blacks in the District of Columbia, putting a human face on the victims of the interstate slave trade, whose lives have been overshadowed by larger historical events. Pacheco also details the Congressional debates about slavery that resulted from this large-scale escape attempt. She contends that although the incident itself and the trials and Congressional disputes that followed were not directly responsible for bringing an end to the slave trade in the nation's capital, they played a pivotal role in publicizing many of the issues surrounding slavery. Eventually, President Millard Fillmore pardoned the operators of the \u003ci\u003ePearl\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Josephine F. Pacheco\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of North Carolina Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/01\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.62lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 12.00h x 6.00w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781469615004\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePacheco, Josephine F.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Josephine F. Pacheco (1920-2008) was Distinguished Professor of History Emerita at George Mason University, where she directed the Center for the Study of Constitutional Rights. She coauthored, edited, or coedited six other books, including \u003ci\u003eThree Who Dared: Prudence Crandall, Margaret Douglass, Myrtilla Miner: Champions of Antebellum Black Education\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of North Carolina Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":45115605516403,"sku":"9781469615004","price":67.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/files\/img_159926c3-f29c-4e2e-b5cc-b03292530d9e.jpg?v=1781787131","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/the-pearl-a-failed-slave-escape-on-the-potomac-9781469615004","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}