{"product_id":"it-took-courage-eliza-winstons-quest-for-freedom-by-christopher-p-lehman","title":"It Took Courage: Eliza Winston's Quest for Freedom by Christopher P. Lehman","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn August 22, 1860, an enslaved woman from Mississippi named Eliza Winston petitioned for her freedom before a judge in Minnesota—and she won. After she left the state for Canada, the abolitionists who helped her escape her enslavers told and retold the story, emphasizing their own actions; their detractors claimed they had used Winston as a  pawn. Historians’ accounts emphasize the mobs who battled in the streets after the ruling and the implications of the events for Minnesota politics. Winston is often portrayed as a simple woman, ignorant of the significance of freedom and needing to be convinced to pursue liberation. For more than 150 years, this is how Eliza Winston’s story has been told.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn this a remarkable work, historian Christopher P. Lehman uncovers the story of Winston’s first forty-two years and her long struggle to obtain her freedom. She was sold away from her birth family; her husband, a free man, died before he could purchase her freedom. She was enslaved in Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Minnesota. At one time, a sitting US president—Andrew Jackson—bought her, and that purchase kept her enslaved by his relatives for over a quarter of a century. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe lives of individual enslaved people are almost entirely undocumented and untold. In Lehman’s telling, Winston reappears as a capable, mature woman who understood her life and her values. Eliza Winston herself made the bold decision to leave behind everything she had known for an uncertain but free future. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUsed softcover, minor wear, signed by author on halftitle page, binding tight, pages bright, a very nice copy!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Griffin's Roost Book \u0026 Yarn Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48164193271971,"sku":null,"price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9670\/3395\/files\/206568492.jpg?v=1789834827","url":"https:\/\/griffinsroostbt.com\/products\/it-took-courage-eliza-winstons-quest-for-freedom-by-christopher-p-lehman","provider":"Griffin's Roost Book \u0026 Yarn Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}