Here you go James. I thought you might find this Washington Post article about Andrew Jackson’s classified advertisements for runaway black slaves interesting. No mention of ads for runaway white slaves posted in the papers over the years, such as you have diligently chronicled, however.

Of course the point of the article is to take a cheap shot at God-Emperor Trump for paying homage to the Jackson, evil slave owner that he was, as a populist president. What was he thinking about, huh?

-Jeremy Bentham

Hunting down runaway slaves: The cruel ads of Andrew Jackson and ‘the master class’

www.msn.com |

5 mins read

© Library of Congress/Tennessee Gazette The runaway slave ad placed by Andrew Jackson ran in the “Tennessee Gazette,” on Oct. 3, 1804. The ad was published on Page 3, column 4.

“Stop the Runaway,” Andrew Jackson urged in an ad placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804. The future president gave a detailed description: A “Mulatto Man Slave, about thirty years old, six feet and an inch high, stout made and active, talks sensible, stoops in his walk, and has a remarkable large foot, broad across the root of the toes — will pass for a free man …”

The above ad is indistinguishable from ads for runaway whites of the same period, such as this one: The Adams Centinel, Gettysburg, PA

May 20, 1801[1]

Eight Dollar Reward

Ran away from the subscriber on Sunday, the 17th inst., a German indented servant man, named John Godfrey Daniel Fidler, by trade a shoemaker, about thirty-two years of age, five feet eight or nine inches high; he is stout made and has short black hair.

Had on a lead colored homemade thick cloth coat, brown thick cloth pantaloons, a white dimity waistcoat, and half boots. It is expected he is making towards Philadelphia. Whoever takes up said Servant and secures him in any jail so that his Master gets him again, shall have the above reward, and all reasonable expenses if brought by me.

Robert Wray

Furthermore, the remark that the runaway can pass for a free man admits that numerous free men shared his appearance. Whether he appeared to be mixed race or white does not matter in terms of discovering the limits of bondage in this evil nation at its birth. If he appeared to be white, than it is clear that many whites were being held in bondage. If he appears to be mixed or black, then clearly, many non-whites were in a position of freedom, which is denied by our current narrative. Interestingly the illustration on the ad at the top right of the listing is an illustration of a black man with hobo stick and pouch tied to its end, which is based on an earlier illustration of a white boy with such a stick, being led along out of bondage by the Devil himself!