Item Details

[Anonymous].THE COMPLAINT OF A FUGITIVE SLAVE WHO ESCAPED FROM TENNESSEE TO CANADA.

[Probably Northern States: printer unidentified, ca. 1850s.]

Song broadside, 6 × 10 inches. Printed on one side only. Price in text: "Five Cents."  Song in eight stanzas; first line: I'm on my way to Canada.   Good condition, creased and toned. 

An abolitionist song sheet celebrating escape from slavery to Canada following the tightening of federal fugitive slave enforcement during the decade preceding the Civil War. Intended to be sung to the popular tune "Oh! Susanna," the narrator recounts flight from Tennessee, pursuit by slave catchers and bloodhounds, and eventual refuge across the Canadian border, where "colored men are free." Such inexpensive song sheets formed an important part of antebellum antislavery literature, combining popular music with political advocacy.

The lack of imprint is typical of ephemeral song publications of the period. 

Provenance: Estate of G. W. Davenport, Litchfield County, Connecticut.

References: OCLC lists the title with a Philadelphia imprint Merrihew & Thompson, prs., Merchant above Fourth Sts,  1853-1856?, part of a pair with within ornamental borders ( Hay Broadsides Harris copy) and a stand-alone copy without either imprijnt or borders (AMISTAD RES CTR LDA).