Of Sacrifice and Surrender: America's First Abolitionists

Slavery was the backbone of the British American economy. Many colonists understood the practice of human bondage was a crime against God and country. One of the earliest efforts to make good on the Founders promise of equality for all people can be traced back to two unlikely warriors in the fight for freedom.

Steven Brixton was a young Tory living in a secluded eastern shore fishing village in Maryland’s County Somerset. He first met Coleman Holyday, a forgotten Revolutionary War hero, on an urgent and arduous supply run to Baltimore. The Chesapeake Bay was infested with British warships preparing to attack Fort McHenry. The boy and the old veteran of the Maryland 400 stood witness as America withstood the attack of the mightiest navy in the world.

Brixton and Holyday watched the victors rejoice in the streets but were outraged as black Americans remained chained and left to endure the biting sting of the whip. They seized their opportunity to make a difference in a young and broken country. Two of the first abolitionists would ensure the joyful songs and laughter of children not yet born. And their walk to the gallows would afford them one last moment of glory.