“One hundred dollars,” is what Daniel Bell, a free African American
blacksmith living and working at the Navy Yard in the District of
Columbia, was told he needed for his family in 1848. Eleven members of
his family, including his wife, children, and grandchildren could escape
from slavery for $100 (today’s equivalent of a half year’s pay).
Legally they were already free, but lawyers had them tied up in court
proving their freedom would be expensive, time consuming, and uncertain
at best. A ship could be chartered, The Pearl, to take his family to
freedom.
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