"Disciples of the Declaration": American Freedom and the Fugitive-Slave Rebellion at Rockville

Over the Fourth of July weekend in 1845, as American citizens celebrated the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and its egalitarian ideals, more than fifty armed bondsmen fled from southern Maryland and marched through the nation's capital toward the North and freedom. After a violent confrontation with militiamen near Rockville, Maryland, nearly all of the absconders were arrested and returned to their owners; nevertheless, their efforts to escape from bondage were not made in vain. In the coming weeks and months, abolitionists rose to the defense of these freedom fighters, and on the pages of northern newspapers exposed the glaring gap between the rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence, which Americans celebrated annually, and the reality of slavery. By viewing the historic escape attempt as a political action inspired by the Declaration of Independence, this essay demonstrates how these fugitive slave rebels infused the national dialogue on slavery and freedom with the voices of enslaved people.