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Join us for a deep dive into Gregory O'Malley's latest release, The Escapes of David George, chronicling the "dramatic story of a Black man's relentless search for freedom in Revolutionary-era America." Especially interesting is this glimpse into the life of a man who spent many a day here in the CSRA, Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Beech Island was founded by David George along with other enslaved African Americans. Augusta, GA was also along his path on his final escape from slavery during Britain's invasion. ABOUT THE BOOK
When most Americans think of slavery, they do not picture the colonial or revolutionary eras. Yet, in fact, one of six inhabitants of the thirteen original colonies was enslaved. The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution reveals a remarkable, untold experience of the American revolutionary period—a Black man’s quest for the freedom espoused by our Founders, but denied him and other enslaved people.
In 1762, at the age of 19, David George escaped from a plantation in Virginia. Running southwest by night, fording rivers and crossing borders, he embarked on a decades-long journey in and out of captivity that spanned multiple colonies and thousands of miles. George lived among White, Black, Creek, and Natchez settlements, fled to the British Army for the promise of liberty, founded what might have been the first Black Baptist church, helped to hack a settlement for refugees out of the Nova Scotia wilderness, and died as a leader of an experimental anti-slavery community in Sierra Leone.
Piecing together archival records and David George’s own brief account of his life—the earliest written testimony by a fugitive enslaved person in North America--Gregory O’Malley presents a thrilling narrative and a unique perspective on our nation’s origins, principles, and contradictions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gregory E O'Malley is professor of history at UC Santa Cruz. His first book, Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade of British America, 1619-1807, won the Forkosch, Rawley, Owsley, and Elsa Goveia awards. He is a key contributor to the SlaveVoyages.org, consulted on The 1619 Project, and lectures widely on the slave trade and related subjects.
This event is free and open to the public.
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978 Broad Street, Augusta, GA, United States, Georgia 30901
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