Listen "Thomas Smallwood: The Black Hero America Tried To Erase | Scott Shane"
Episode Synopsis
Scott Shane is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and acclaimed author, best known for his gripping new biography Flee North, which brings to life the astonishing story of Thomas Smallwood, an abolitionist, satirist, and unsung American hero who named the Underground Railroad.In this episode, we uncover the electrifying journey of Thomas Smallwood, a formerly enslaved man who bought his own freedom, teamed up with a young white activist, and helped orchestrate daring mass escapes from slavery in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, all while ridiculing slaveholders in biting newspaper columns.Shane takes us deep into Smallwood’s world of resistance and risk, revealing how he battled the brutal slave trade with strategy, courage, and satire, and why his legacy was nearly lost to history.📚 Buy Flee North by Scott Shane here - https://amzn.to/4lr5xO3📚 My list of 100 history books that will change your life - https://charif.beehiiv.com/subscribeChapters:0:00 - Intro0:47 - The challenge of telling this story7:54 - Who was Thomas Smallwood?23:44 - The alliance: Smallwood and Torrey35:55 - Building the underground railroad44:10 - Mocking slaveholders in print51:21 - The true origin of ‘Underground Railroad’57:57 - The escape to Canada1:00:45 - Erased from history. Buried without a marker.
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