Under the Freedom Tree
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Taut free verse tells the little-known story of the first contraband camp of the Civil War—seen by some historians as the "beginning of the end of slavery in America." One night in 1861, three escaped slaves made their way from the Confederate line to a Union-held fort. The runaways were declared "contraband of war" and granted protection. As word spread, thousands of runaway slaves poured into the fort, seeking their freedom. These "contrabands" made a home for themselves, building the first African American community in the country. In 1863, they bore witness to one of the first readings of the Emancipation Proclamation in the South—beneath the sheltering branches of the tree now known as Emancipation Oak.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In staccato verse, VanHecke (Raggin' Jazzin' Rockin') illuminates an absorbing slice of Civil War history: runaway slaves' establishment of a settlement in newly seceded Virginia. In 1861, three slaves Frank Baker, James Townsend, and Shepard Mallory escape by boat from a Confederate camp, "Away/ from Southern soldiers/ who would/ own them,/ work them,/ beat them,/ sell them,/ keep them slaves forever." The three men land at a Union camp whose commander declares them "contraband of war" and refuses to return them to the Confederates. They and hundreds of other runaways who subsequently arrive in "Slabtown" work for the Union army and build two camps. Missionaries educate the children under the branches of the tree now known as the Emancipation Oak, where, in the story's triumphant finish, a boy reads the Emancipation Proclamation. Ladd's (Oprah: The Little Speaker) evocative and subtly textured acrylic, pastel, and colored pencil art reflects the evolving tenor of the story as uncertainty gives way to hope. An extensive author's note delves deeper into this immersive true story of courage and grit. Ages 6 9.
