Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge: George and Martha Washington's Courageous Slave Who Dared to Run Away; Young Readers Edition

“(Slave owners, including the Washingtons, referred to their human property as ‘servants,’ not slaves. Perhaps even way back then, among people who supported slavery wholeheartedly, this choice of words implied that somewhere, deep in their conscience, they knew it was wrong.”

This quote emphasizes the importance of language. In not using the term “slave,” there is a belief on the part of the enslaver that they are behaving morally. Indeed, the book frequently notes the ways slavery is justified by arguing it is bettering the lives of the enslaved or insisting the enslaved prefer this condition.

“The broadside showed everyone that the slave trade was brutal and completely inhumane. Illustrations of the ship above the text showed Africans packed together as tightly as possible, with no attention paid to space or cleanliness of hunger or dignity. When the broadside was printed in Philadelphia, it gave the Quakers, and all the other abolitionists—as well as anyone who did not yet hold an opinion about the enslavement of humans—an image of such suffering and pain that the movement to end slavery in Pennsylvania was given a huge shove forward.”

Appeals to emotion and morality are effective in persuading many citizens to acknowledge the inhumane and deplorable nature of slavery. Those people removed from the daily practices of transporting enslaved people can remain unaware and therefore ignorant of these atrocities. Underscoring the way in which the enslaved are indeed human is integral to ending the institution of slavery.

“But standing alongside white servants, Ona would see even more clearly the distinction between their lives and hers. To be a slave—even the favored slave of the wife of the president of the United States—was to be seen as inhuman. To be free was to be given your humanity back.”

Though in some respects, Ona’s tasks may be less physically demanding than those of other enslaved people, she is still forced into an extremely difficult and trying life. The psychological trauma of forced slavey is emphasized here, as it is necessary to insist that Black people are not human in order to enslave them. Even a favorite enslaved person of the US president is still viewed as property.