Dr. Pierce discusses the case of Nelson Hackett, an enslaved man who escaped bondage in Arkansas by fleeing to Canada but was extradited back to Arkansas. Hackett’s story not only to document a single man’s incredible struggle but also to explore how that one man activated a trans-Atlantic and biracial network of activists working to undermine the institution of slavery. Hackett’s struggle demonstrates how the actions of enslaved individuals forced officials throughout the entire Atlantic world to confront the very thing that most of them wanted to ignore—the institution of chattel slavery. Thus, fugitives like Hackett played critical roles in the century-long process of abolition and emancipation.

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