Runaway Ad Analysis by Audrey Ke Zhao

2025-07-16 21:00:29 UTC

This advertisement is one of the highest i seen when scanning through briefly. They are offering $100 to round of two young men in their 20's. They both wore good clothes and spoke good language, they are walking around town with "hall passes" claiming to be given too them by the master. This is insane that this was likely common on every newspaper. This article was published by the University of New Orleans

2025-07-16 21:03:49 UTC

Ryder:

This advertisement describes a 25 year old “mulatto” girl with long black hair who is well known about town and ran away a couple months prior to this advertisement being created. The advertisement simply mentions that she is a servant to the author, James F McRee. McRee attempts to recover his servant by offering a $20 reward to “apprehend” his “servant girl.” He also mentions that an additional $50 would be paid to anyone that can help convict a white person harboring her. This advertisement was taken out in Wilmington, North Carolina, which ended up trying to exit the union in the Civil War. North Carolina had a significant abolitionist movement, creating tension among the populace. This might tie back into the advertisement with McRee’s additional $50 reward for a white person helping his servant escape. Other than this mild dagger, there isn’t really much else that McRee says that could potentially be interpreted for tone and verbiage - he’s pretty matter-of-fact.

2025-07-16 21:04:07 UTC

This ad describes the man who ran away, giving his name and notable physical features. It doesn't mention what labor he is known for, but does name his previous "owners". John Grady offers a monetary reward and tries to offer him for sale as well. The mention of his relatives in Newbern and Slocumb's Creek implies that he has family helping him resist slavery and escape. It's not clear if his relatives are enslaved or not. This ad was published in Lenoir in 1819, which is in North Carolina. In 1819, there was an economic crisis following the war of 1812, which had a negative impact on the agrarian economy. The ad shows the conflict between a person resisting slavery through flight and the oppressive economic and political systems of slavery and transatlantic trade, which relied on people such as John Grady to enforce them.

2025-07-16 21:06:02 UTC

The ad I chose describes a runaway as a short black woman, Silvia, 28 years old, with a scar on her forehead and missing front teeth. Her clothing is also described, but other than her silk petticoat, it's hard to make out the text. Ten dollars are offered as a reward for anyone who returns her to "Green Hill," implying this ad was likely posted within a small local community. Two leads are given of locations where she has "Relations," with a capital R, hinting at a formality that likely either meant that the writer of the post was unsure what her connections were, or they were family connections. The type of labour she performed is not described.

jwstenge — 2025-07-16 21:07:34 UTC

https://database.freedomonthemove.org/advertisements/a4470507-ad94-48ba-a8ae-b404d9ab5c68

Ad Summary: This ad was for a runaway slave by the name of Elizabeth. Physically she is described as a Mulatto woman in her early 20s (23 or 24) with long straight black hair and warts on her hands. Moreover she is described to have large front teeth, and is well dressed with a gentleman’s gold shirt button.

Labor and Skill: No job or role is explicitly stated, but more likely than not she worked agriculture of some sort as Southampton County, VA mostly grew cash crops like tobacco and cotton.

Resistance: She was seen taking a southern train in Belfield, which was most likely a trick to throw slave catchers off track. She most likely was planning on heading north to a free state. Moreover she used an alias and went by the name of Martha Payne and described herself as a free woman. She also might have had a pass that stated she was free as to not arouse suspicion.

Surveillance: A hefty award of 50 dollars is placed on her head in order to incentivize her capture and hold her in a jail. Moreover, I would assume there are informants of some kind as they were able to find clues on her whereabouts (ie her being seen at the train station and her going by a different name).

Language and Power: The tone of the ad is very “matter of fact” as if they are describing an animal on the loose. There is no recognition of her dignity, but rather is portrayed as a cattle animal that needs to be returned to her owner.

2025-07-16 21:07:52 UTC

This ad was for a 30-year-old, enslaved woman named Fanny, who escaped from the writer's house in New Orleans. They offer a $10 reward for both of them, which was closer to $250 when adjusted for inflation. The ad doesn't mention what kind of labor she is known for, but they mention that she speaks both English and French. She escaped with her 7-year-old daughter, and the ad mentions that she has another daughter living somewhere else in the city who she might visit, potentially to help her escape as well.

2025-07-16 21:08:24 UTC

This clip explains a man who was arrested and brought to jail in new orleans, a man named lewis who "belonged to" Daniel Morlimer from 1828. this advertisement stood out to me because it describes a 26 year old man, "having two fingers of the right hand cut off at the second joint." It highlights how normal it was for black people to carry deformities due to the abuse and racism from white people. "The owner is requested to claim him agreeably to law." is entirely dehumanizing.

2025-07-16 21:08:48 UTC

This add is about Jerry, an enslaved young man who has ran away in Lenoir County (North Carolina). He is described as a 6 foot tall, 23 year old with light complexion. It is interesting that there are no more details about his physical appearance, or anything else about him. They are offering a $25 reward for whoever "apprehends and delivers him" to his enslavers, but they are also willing to sell him to whoever finds him. I found this choice of words completely dehumanizing, as the word "delivering" is usually used for objects. I also found it interesting that they are willing "to sell him," which reinforces the fact that for his enslavers, he was just property, and now that he has shown to be problematic, they don't want to deal with him anymore.

2025-07-16 21:13:42 UTC

This ad has a reward of twenty dollars. It describes a 26 year old man who is 5 foot 4. It then describes his facial features. It then goes on to mention who owned him previously and who is currently willing to pay for his capture. He escaped a plantation on June 4th. This slave was named Henry. This was published in New Orleans in 1854. The advertisement treats this individual as property and describes his enslavement history. There is a reference to his wife who was apparently enslaved to a different slave owner on the coast. The individual willing to pay for this slave's capture is named John Ermon.