Samuel Ringgold Ward
In 1817, Samuel Ringgold Ward was born into slavery in Maryland. He was treated
harshly and resented the entire system of chattel slavery. To escape this
horrible system, Ward ran away, using the Underground Railroad to reach New
York City. In New York, Ward became a school teacher and later a preacher.
His interest in journalism led him to the job of an editor of the Farmer
and Northern Star. Wars became involved with the abolitionist movement
that was very popular in New York. He, along with others founded the Liberty
and Free-Soil parties, edited the Impartial Citizen in Boston and credited
the Alienated American. Ward moved to Canada. His abolitionist nature
led him to lecture for the Antislavery Society. Ward's work lecturing
about his life as a slave led him to write an autobiographical book about
it entitled, The Autobiography of a Fugitive Slave. Ward visited England,
then retired to Jamaica. In 1864, he died
there.
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