Project Gutenberg 2005-02-21 Public domain in the USA. 274 Pennington, James W. C. 1809 1870 The Fugitive Blacksmith or, Events in the History of James W. C. Pennington, Pastor of a Presbyterian Church, New York, Formerly a Slave in the State of Maryland, United States Produced by Suzanne Shell, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. "The Fugitive Blacksmith" by James W.C. Pennington is a historical narrative written in the mid-19th century. This work recounts the harrowing experiences of the author, who was formerly a slave in Maryland and later became a pastor in New York. The central theme revolves around the author's escape from slavery, the brutal realities of the chattel system, and the subsequent fight for liberty and identity. Pennington's narrative sheds light on the complexities of slavery as experienced by the enslaved individuals, emphasizing the emotional and societal toll of such an oppressive institution. The opening of "The Fugitive Blacksmith" provides a poignant preface in which Pennington reflects on his past and the impetus behind his writing. He expresses a desire to combat misconceptions about slavery's so-called 'mild forms' and highlights the horrors that ensue from the chattel principle, which reduces human beings to property. Through personal anecdotes, he illustrates the cruelty faced by enslaved individuals, including a harrowing account of a fellow slave’s forced sale and degradation. As he details his birth and early life in slavery, Pennington’s narrative evokes empathy and provides a foundation for understanding his eventual quest for freedom—beginning with his determined flight and the struggles that accompany his quest for autonomy in a perilous socio-political landscape. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 72.1 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Fugitive slaves -- United States -- Biography Enslaved persons -- United States -- Biography Pennington, James W. C. Slavery -- Maryland E300 Text Browsing: Biographies Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: History - American Category: Biographies Category: History - American 193663 2025-06-06T12:00:33.333746 text/html 192317 2020-12-14T03:51:29 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 71752 2020-12-14T03:51:29 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 153070 2025-06-06T12:00:40.323675 application/epub+zip 153726 2025-06-06T12:00:36.646712 application/epub+zip 140559 2025-06-06T12:00:35.294737 application/epub+zip 276951 2025-06-06T12:00:43.164689 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 264313 2025-06-06T12:00:39.491699 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 170981 2022-09-07T20:05:06.426716 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 178979 2025-06-06T12:00:32.908747 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 178840 2020-12-14T03:51:29 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 68903 2020-12-14T03:51:29 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 178831 2020-12-14T03:51:29 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 68885 2020-12-14T03:51:29 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 21636 2025-06-06T12:00:43.323654 application/rdf+xml 11607 2025-06-06T12:00:35.855697 image/jpeg 3041 2025-06-06T12:00:35.576690 image/jpeg 150585 2025-06-06T12:00:33.356707 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia