41 pages • 1 hour read

Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge: George and Martha Washington's Courageous Slave Who Dared to Run Away; Young Readers Edition

Nonfiction | Biography | Middle Grade | Published in 2019

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-8

Chapters 9-17

Chapter 18-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Themes

Severe Hardship as the Price of Freedom

The book emphasizes the value of freedom to enslaved people, showing how severe the hardships are when escaping slavery and then living after it. Importantly, freedom is presented as something the enslaved know they are worthy of and see as difficult, but not impossible, to attain. Doing so requires, in cases such as Ona’s, that the enslaved formulate a plan to increase the success of their escape. Knowing who, among the free citizens, can be trusted to aid an enslaved person wishing to flee is critical. Trusting the wrong person could mean an enslaved person is then sold, thus separating them from family members. To flee slavery means to battle many obstacles: In the north, one of these is the elements—snow could make travel difficult, and enslaved people are not equipped with adequate clothing. If an enslaved person successfully arrives in a place where slavery is illegal, they then face the task of establishing a life. Enslaved people would have to do so without any money, most likely relying on what skills they already have. Undoubtably, this means that poverty and uncertainty are what an enslaved person should expect. Finally, the psychological toll of escaping is illustrated in the book. Ona lives in a state of fear and anxiety that she will be recognized and therefore returned to slavery. Living in this state of constant alertness is stressful and makes free life far from free in practice.

The risk of punishment is an additional cost enslaved people and their relatives have to be willing to pay for freedom. Being caught meant not only being returned to slavery—and thus to the terrible life the enslaved had hoped to leave behind—but also being punished for fleeing. The authors note that physical punishment for fugitives from slavery would be awful, but further, their family would likely be abused in their absence. This meting out of punishment on the fugitive from slavery’s loved ones is a factor that prevents many from choosing flight—the thought of bringing physical harm upon one’s loved ones would be a great burden. In this way, the enslaved person needs to weigh the benefits of freedom against the likely atrocities that others would pay in their stead. The price of freedom extends to the difficulties one would face if they failed in their attempt, and this price spreads across the community and to the enslaved person’s relatives.

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

8,800+ In-Depth Study Guides
4,700+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
Downloadable PDFs

The book conveys the symbolic importance of freedom to the enslaved person despite this high price—freedom, in the text, is a means to reclaim one’s humanity and to voice one’s moral opposition to the institution that forces an entire race to be subservient, deeming it unworthy of basic human rights. In seeking freedom, Ona is paving the way for the ultimate abolishment of this institution. Ona pays the price for freedom because she deems her humanity more valuable than any material condition that can befall her during her escape. She will not accept steady food and shelter if she cannot have the symbolic value of freedom; she sacrifices material well-being for an assertion that she and other enslaved people are human.

Ona’s Loyalty Among the Washingtons and Free Black People

When George Washington becomes the nation’s first president and must relocate from Mount Vernon to the north, he and his wife, Martha, are careful and deliberate in choosing the enslaved people that will accompany them, selecting them on notions of loyalty. Because the north in general and Philadelphia in particular are known for their abolitionist leanings, neither of them want their enslaved people to learn that a free life may be possible. Martha hand-selects specific enslaved people to accompany her; among them are Ona Judge, who will from then on fulfill the role of Martha’s personal attendant. From Martha’s perspective, this is a prestigious role as “service” goes, and Martha believes Ona should be filled with gratitude to have it. It means, in some respects, a less physically demanding life, as Ona will not be completing the physical labor of farm work that many of her peers do. Similarly, it means she will reside in a stylish and comfortable home and accompany Martha on social engagements. It is Ona’s pleasant nature, her dedication, and her unfailing loyalty to the Washingtons that cause Martha to choose her.

Martha’s beliefs that she is loyal to her enslaved person, however, are only grounded in racism. While she insists that she treats Ona as though she were a family member, that Ona is forced to work for Martha cannot be overlooked. Martha is certain that because neither she nor George are physically abusive to Ona—and because of the pleasurable conditions of Ona’s physical environment—Ona should be grateful to them. When Ona flees, it is regarded as a personal insult by George and Martha both. That Ona has proven disloyal embarrasses the Washingtons, making them, in their minds, at risk of ridicule by their social peers. Because Ona’s service is not her choice but forced enslavement, Washington’s assessment of Ona is misguided. She is paid no wages by the Washingtons, nor does she have any agency in her life, including deciding where she lives, what work she does, and whether or not she is to bear children. The Washingtons have, in a much more objective sense, done nothing by enslaving Ona to earn her commitment and loyalty.

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

8,800+ In-Depth Study Guides
4,700+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
Downloadable PDFs

By contrast, Ona finds true loyalty within the community of mutually free Black people in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. As they assist her with fleeing—which includes finding her a safe family with whom to live temporarily—these individuals show Ona that they are to be trusted and that they seek to aid Ona in fulfilling her goal of obtaining freedom. Because of this, the authors suggest Ona likely displays her gratitude by providing them with gifts or small tokens at Christmas and aiding in the household tasks and care. The loyalty among Ona and the free Black community is based on reciprocity and mutual freedom, as they view one another as equals and do not define their role to one another through uneven power dynamics.

Racial Injustice as Central to America’s Founding

Though the book focuses on the life of Ona Judge and the enslavement of people by George and Martha Washington, it points to the larger impacts of slavery on the US, highlighting the cultural racism it causes. The southern states are made profitable through agriculture—crops such as tobacco and cotton are desirable commodities, and to maximize their earnings, landowners rely on the unpaid labor of enslaved people. All aspects of southern plantations would come to rely on the labor of enslaved people, and were landowners required to suddenly pay those who grew and harvested their crops and cared for their estates, they would suffer a loss of income. Thus, the text states, to maintain this system, the notion that the enslaved—people with black skin, in this case—are inferior must be maintained. This is why southern culture views itself as aiding enslaved people by providing for them, contributing to the establishment of a pervasive cultural and ideological racism.

As the nation gains independence, it is ironic that the designers of the new government deny how important freedom is to the enslaved, perpetuating the notion that Black people are less-than; indeed, the Constitution as well as the Declaration of Independence both tout liberty as an esteemed value. Many of the Founders, however, refuse to recognize the parallel between the freedom they desire from the English and the freedom the enslaved must desire. In this way, the belief that those with black skin are non-human, that they are not worthy of the kind of treatment and rights afforded to white people, becomes integral to the formation of the nation itself. The country has to portray Black people as being less than human to justify their exclusion from ethics and government, and this is essential to American ideology.

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

8,800+ In-Depth Study Guides
4,700+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
Downloadable PDFs

The resistance to the abolition movement demonstrates just how engrained such notions of superiority are, showing the cultural racism at the heart of American identity. For some, the belief that their own livelihood and well-being should take precedence over those of another race perpetuates ideas that enslaved people are inferior. Even within anti-slavery states in the north are examples that reveal the way slavery is deeply embedded in the nation’s way of life: Labor of enslaved people continues to be used to build the new capital. Likewise, in their enslavement, Black people are withheld advantages that prevent them from advancing in society once slavery has ultimately been abolished. Illiteracy and disenfranchisement will be one of the many ways Black people are prevented from advancing; this creates racial disparity in the decades to come. The book suggests, too, that though laws may be enacted to help such citizens come closer to achieving equality, laws cannot change pervading and long-held beliefs that enslaved people are unintelligent or undeserving of freedom. The United States’ racist history continues to impact its citizens into the modern era.