Those that were enslaved in America, were part of an institution that was legal, at that time and age, no matter the injustice and inhumanity, so of. That said, in a land in which the dollar meant everything and profit the overriding goal of many, some of those that were enslaved, did still have legitimate options to free themselves, though typically limited and perhaps wholly unrealistic. For instance, eventually in the Northern States as well as in Canada, slavery became illegal; so then, those then that were able to physically get to those places, were essentially rewarded with freedom, though the journey to such, was fraught with perils, and the price to pay for individual failure, was exceedingly high. Another way to manumit a person that was enslaved, was to have a particular skillset which allowed that enslaved person to earn money through the loaning out or the subleasing of their trade, or from the goods so created, and those slaves that were able to save enough money, over some period of time, could, in theory, buy their way to freedom. The third way, was similar to the second, but was done not though the particular labor of a given slave, but rather through those that were part of an abolitionist group, as well as with the aid of former slaves, who would create a subscription book for a relative or someone else of interest, and then solicit sympathetic souls to their viewpoint, to put up money to manumit those slaves, and when the necessary funds were thereby secured, make payment to the “owner” in order to buy that person’s freedom.
The bottom line is that the slavery business was a business, and further to the point, a given slave’s value was never stagnant; of which, because slaves had a finite amount of physical life, and typically had an initial rise in their value, followed at some point, by an inevitable decline, then it could be said, that even the most recalcitrant of slave owners, had a price that they would sell anyone that they so owned. Therefore, subscription books, were a legitimate way to free those that were enslaved, and therefore this was a licit vehicle providing freedom for those that were enslaved. Regrettably, in consideration that literally millions of people were enslaved in America at its peak – escape, or the subletting of one’s specialized labor, or a subscription fully paid, only freed a very small percentage of those so enslaved, which seemingly did not make any real appreciable impact upon this the most despicable of peculiar institutions.
Still, in an era in which the uncompensated labor was the ways and means for the autocratic privileged Southern class to make and to augment their wealth, and of which, the national legislative votes were not there to impugn this status quo, the national options, so of, were limited. Yet, every person so manumitted led valued credence to the sensible belief that a given person’s skin color could not possibly have anything to do with their capacity to think as well as to accomplish valued tasks; and further that a nation divided would ultimately have to face the truth, that to stay united, whole, and healthy, this would necessitate that what is right and just ultimately triumphing over that which was founded upon injustice, inhumanity, and outright greed.