"Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge" is a biography published in 2017 by Erica Armstrong Dunbar. In this book, the author imagines the life of a Judge and a young woman enslaved by the first family in the USA and later escaped to gain her freedom. The book reconstructs how the Judge took away the woman chance of liberty in 1796. The book portrays the world and life of the Judge in a stylish manner that has never been done before. Also, the book honors humanity and the life of a woman who has been deprived of niceties since her birth.
The book introduces its story with a description of the weather. In June 1773 the intemperate weather included of humid and hot days which were typical of the area but it also included snow. This unpredictable weather in the area portrayed the continuous change in Washington's estate at Mt. Vernon. Washington's daughter, Martha and his step-daughter Patsy died within a short period. A few days after these deaths, Ona Maria Judge was born. Ona Judge and her mother served as honored house servants for the Washingtons. Gorge Washington's presidential election forced the Washingtons to relocate to the capital city, New York, and the sixteen-year-old Ona Judge accompanied them. Here, the author tries to illustrate the change in events in life, especially of Ona Judge. Life in New York was definitely different from the life in Mt. Vernon.
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The book uses history to fill in the gaps and holes in the story of Judge. The Judge was one of the people enslaved in Mount Vernon who escaped and lived to tell her story. The author approaches the Judge's life with a good understanding of her circumstance as well as her limitations. This approach gives a perfect illustration of the life of the enslaved people during the time of slavery in the United States. The author uses the Judge's life to explain the difficulties faced by the slaves who defied the law of slavery. In the book, she says, "For fugitives, like [Judge], secrecy was a necessity. Enslaved men and women on the run often kept their pasts hidden…" Freedom was very fragile for the runaway slaves, especially the slaves owned by powerful families such as the owners of Judge. The book illustrates the contradiction at the center of the American founding. Some people supported the runaway slave to escape to slavery, while others facilitated their capture and re-enslavement. The best way for the runaways to protect their freedom was to remain silent and hide their past secrets.
In the story, the author does not explain a lot about the Judge's life before the escape. Judge served as a personal attendant to Martha Washington at both Philadelphia and New York before Martha died. In all these places, Judge would have encountered a considerable large free black population, free white servants, and the idea of freedom. The Judge was a trusted slave who was given opportunities that other slaves could not enjoy. She was provided with sufficient food, a good wardrobe, and was allowed to attend cultural functions as well as go to the theatre. Therefore, according to Martha and Gorge, Judge's scape was not only an embarrassment but also showed that escape from well-cushioned slavery was a personal betrayal. They believed that the few privileges and opportunities offered to Judge were a reward for being a good slave, and according to them, they expected her to be loyal and not seek freedom.
The author uses the Washington’s, the first family, to portray how slavery was well established in early American society. Upon the escape of Ona Judge, Washington used his wealth and power to repossess his lost property. He used his political connections, friends, bounty hunters, and slave catchers to pursue Judge. In order to portray Judge's cat and mouse game full of suspense and tension, the author uses politics, slave laws, and abolitionist practices. The story not only gives a fugitive slave narrative but in within it brings out the themes of emotional and physical of family separation as well as the day-to-day reality of black women in the early United States. The Judge was separated from her mother at an early age of sixteen when the Washingtons relocated to New York, but she had no choice as a slave. This must have had both emotional and physical impact on her, but her circumstances could not allow her to show them.
The story shows the resilience and struggle of black women in early American society. Amidst the struggle of state struggle to establish and implement its constitutional principles, Judge was courageously forging marriage and motherhood and community civilization. Judge determination shows how freedom is valuable to her and can be illustrated in the following line from the story that she would "‘rather suffer death' than return to slavery." Her craving for freedom may have come with so many challenges, but according to her, she would better have those challenges as a fee person rather than have some privileges as a slave. Judge experienced the challenges of brought by separation as well as being a fugitive slave seeking her freedom, but that did not stop her from embracing a normal life. She embraced marriage life and motherhood as well as appreciated all those who contributed to her freedom. To honor their effort, she ensured that her past life always remained a secret.
Work Cited
Dunbar, E. A. (2018). Never caught: The Washingtons' relentless pursuit of their runaway slave, Ona Judge. Simon and Schuster.
