Though a proclamation and a Senate Act gave them freedom on paper, stifling social and economic bondage kept those who had been snatched from their homes in ancient Africa and brutally forced into slavery in fear for their lives.

 

Hungry for social, political and judicial freedom many African slaves fled north after emancipation. They dreamed of a life free from the shackles of servitude and unfettered by a system that was desiged to keep them forever chained if only in their hearts and minds.