Escape to the City: Fugitive Slaves in the Antebellum Urban South by Viola Franziska Müller (review)

Reviewed by: Escape to the City: Fugitive Slaves in the Antebellum Urban South by Viola Franziska Müller Warren E. Milteer Jr. Escape to the City: Fugitive Slaves in the Antebellum Urban South. By Viola Franziska Müller. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2022. Pp. xiv, 248. Paper, $32.95, ISBN 978-1-4696-7106-2; cloth, $99.00, ISBN 978-1-4696-7105-5.) Viola Franziska Müller’s Escape to the City: Fugitive Slaves in the Antebellum Urban South is a fascinating exploration of the experiences of fugitives from slavery. While most readers may think about the northern United States and Canada when considering the most likely destinations for enslaved people in search of freedom, Müller convincingly demonstrates that the cities of the South were important sites of refuge for countless enslaved persons. She suggests that the visibility of enslaved people who ran north has led us to overlook the important stories of those who remained in the South. After a careful evaluation of the sources, Müller contends that numerous enslaved people prioritized living independent of a master or mistress and that, in many cases, the southern cities could meet this priority. Baltimore, Charleston, Richmond, and New Orleans serve as the primary backdrops for the stories of Müller’s fugitives. In six succinct chapters, Müller guides her readers through the world of slavery’s fugitives. The book’s first chapter explores the motivations of fugitives: why did enslaved people run to the cities of the South? Müller provides multiple explanations, including threat of sale and family separation. The identities of the fugitives are the subject of chapter 2. Who was most likely to become a fugitive? Müller agrees that men made up the majority of fugitives, but she contends that women were more likely to escape bondage than some readers might suspect. Yet she argues that ultimately proximity to “cities of refuge” helped determine who was most likely to go on the run (p. 7). Once there, fugitives found work by exploiting the existing system or taking on the identities of free people. As chapter 3 demonstrates, the presence of a significant population of free people of color was important to urban fugitive populations. The presence of free people of color in a city allowed enslaved people on the run to blend into a community in which all people of color could not be presumed to be slaves. To act free as a person of color in the cities was to some degree normalized. The second half of Escape to the City moves through the trials and tribulations of fugitive life. In chapter 4, Müller investigates the ways fugitives [End Page 742] navigated within cities. Through established social networks, the creation of new ties, and taking advantage of segregated spaces, fugitives integrated themselves into the cities of the South. Even as they succeeded in establishing themselves within the urban South, however, they still faced challenges. Chapter 5 reveals their struggle to find work and make enough money to survive. In some southern cities, employers used racial categorization to exclude certain potential workers, including fugitives. Gendered hiring practices curbed opportunities for enslaved women on the run. Licensing requirements further complicated the realm of possibilities. The book’s final chapter seeks to explain why elites and power brokers permitted southern urban centers to become places of refuge for enslaved persons seeking a little independence. In short, Müller’s answer is money. Fugitives were part of a pool of cheap labor. Escape to the City is an important contribution to the scholarship on slavery, labor, and urban life. Müller’s work is worthy of a wide audience. Warren E. Milteer Jr. George Washington University Copyright © 2023 The Southern Historical Association

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