Jump Ship to Freedom

Jump Ship to Freedom

Concept 5 ~ Three interesting facts

Concept 1:

• One interesting fact about the story is how determined and willing Daniel is to get his mom and himself free. He shows tremendous courage when he risks getting beat for stealing the soldier notes and he didn't even know if they would be worth anything.
• Another interesting fact was how Daniel and his mother became free. They are very poor black people and they are set free by one of the richest most famous man William Samuel Johnson.
• The third interesting fact is how Daniel kept his promise to Mr. Fathercreft even though he knew he would probably get caught and sent back to be a slave. He risked his freedom in order to keep a promise

• Jump Ship to Freedom
• By: James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

• Jack Butler
• February 26th 2015
• Period 1

• Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. Jump Ship to Freedom. New York: Delacorte, 1981. Print.

Jump Ship to Freedom

Concept 4 ~ Four Major Plot Developments

Concept 2: ~ Historical Event / Setting / Time Period

James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

• Daniel's father fought in the Revolutionary War and was paid in "soldier notes". Daniel's father died and his slave owner Captain Ivers took the notes. Daniel and his mother lived with Captain and Mrs. Ivers house (the slave owners). Daniel wants to get back the notes. Daniel steals them back by pretending there was a fire and getting Mrs. Ivers out of the house and stealing them from her bible.
• Captain Ivers beats Daniel because he finds out that Daniel took the notes. Captain Ivers decides to take Daniel with him on the voyage with the intention of selling him to the slave trade in the West Indies. Daniel makes a friend named Birdsie; unfortunately Birdsie drowns and dies on the voyage. Daniel decides to abandon ship and swim away.
• Daniel escapes the boat in New York and meets up with Mr. Fraunces. Mr. Fraunces is a wealthy French black man who was a friend of Daniel's father from the war. Mr. Fraunces helps Daniel after he escapes from Captain Ivers. He also introduces Daniel to Mr. Fatherscreft.
• Daniel meets Mr. Fatherscreft in New York. Mr. Fatherscreft, who is a white Quaker, is trying to deliver a message about a compromise between the North and South regarding Slavery to the new government. The government is meeting in Philadelphia and Daniel wants to go, in hopes of collecting the value of the revolutionary notes that were his fathers. Daniel hopes to be able to buy his mother and himself freedom. Daniel and Mr. Fatherscreft are heading to the convention but Mr. Fatherscreft dies on the way. He tells Daniel to deliver the message to William Samuel Johnson. Daniel delivers the message but is returned to Captain Ivers but later is freed by William Samuel Johnson.

• The historical event was a 14 year old black slave child named Daniel, delivering a message to the Constitutional Convention on behalf of a dieing white congressman that becomes part of the constitution of the United States.
• The time period of the book is in 1787 in colonial America just after the Revolutionary War but before the passing of the Constitution of the United States.
• The setting of the book starts in the slave owners house where Daniel and his mother live. Daniel is then taken on a voyage on a boat by his slave owner headed to the West Indies. Daniel manages to escape the boat in New York. Finally the story moves to Daniel and the congressman travel to Philadelphia.

Concept 3: The fictional character

• The fictional character Daniel fits in the setting because of the multiple places that the story takes place. It is symbolic of how many different places a runaway slave must travel to in order to stay free . A runaway slave is someone who is always on the run and always fears getting caught. Since the settings show that Daniel is always on the run it shows that Daniel has to constantly move in order not to be caught and returned to slavery.
• "I was pretty nervous coming out of the woods. Coming out of the woods with my clothes wet like that was bound to make anybody suspicious that I was a runaway" (Collins 90).
• Daniel fits in with the historical event because he was trying to get free at the same time Mr. Fatherscreft was trying to stop slavery. They happened to meet up and travel together to Philadelphia for the constitutional convention. Although Daniel wanted to be free, he risked his freedom to deliver the message of Mr. Fathercreft who had died on the journey. Daniel delivers this message which became part of the Constitution of the United States. Daniel is returned to his slave master but later set free by one of the men he delivered the message to.
• "Daniel tell Johnson that congress will bar slavery north of the Ohio River, with nothing said about the South, new states or old. Tell him that if they give us this, we must accept a fugitive-slave law and leave the matter of slave importation till later" (Collins 167).