The Tedious Heroism of David Ruggles

I always find that sharing those little tedious details is what creates visceral understanding of a situation. In this case, the true horror of being a liberated Black person in the 1800s and having to relentlessly work to rescue others, while surrounded by people who truly don't care.

On a lighter note, I use the same approach in understanding user needs as a product builder. I focus on letting people share the minutiae of their day rather than have them editorialize the big topics. By doing so, I get a lot of visceral insight and intuition.

Thanks for sharing this. I really enjoyed reading it.

This was a great example for the point that the author is trying to make. The fact that after all that effort, Ruggles was only able to free 2 out of 5 enslaved men is apropos. His victory was incomplete, incremental at best, and nearly got him enslaved again as well, but it was still a victory and it counted, especially for the two men that did get their freedom.

Shout-out to a grindset abolitionist!

> Finally, on Christmas Eve, a group of armed black New Yorkers (reportedly not including Ruggles) boarded the brig Brilliante and managed to rescue two of the men.

This sentence kind of contradicts the author's point though? After all that tedious work within the legal system it wasn't even procedure that got any of these men freed, but actual direct action.

Here's a great candidate to stand on one of those empty plinths. The inscription could be "Social Justice Warrior" to return some valor to the epigram.

If you enjoyed this article you would enjoy the book “The Kidnapping Club” by Jonathan Daniel Wells. It covers the history of pre-Civil War New York. (As the title suggests, the bit in the article about “probably have kidnapped him and sold him into slavery” was more common than you might think.)

I loved the article. This is a truly minor nitpick - he really wasn’t walking that far. As most of the streets and street names in lower Manhattan are the same you can mark the spots on Google maps and see the distances. None of the trips are more than a mile and many less. Someone running the same errands today would most likely walk too.

I work in the neighborhood though so it’s wild to imagine all that going down on the same streets I walk to work on.

I've been in the trenches trying to change housing policy in Austin and the description in this article is very real to me. It has taken my group, AURA, years to learn the ropes of local politics: what specific policy we want, who has control over that policy, and how to influence those people. It took us 6+ years, but we've elected a pro-housing City Council and are getting laws passed. Elections can be fun competitions, but most of advocacy is slow and boring and often feels like running in a labyrinth or torture with tedium.

The police reform groups have more difficulty. The police union is a well-funded well-organized opposition. The reform groups have a lot of public support, but it has been a long difficult slog. They were forced to passed their laws by ballot measure and, even after they pass, it is a struggle to get the city's staff and police to implement them! As I said, David Ruggles's work to get govt employees to actually do their job feels very real to me.

The cartoon "The Disappointed Abolitionists" that prefaces the article, is about the case involving the fugitive slave of John Darg who stole $7000 from him, fled, and was harbored and assisted by African American abolitionist and writer David Ruggles, Quaker arbitrator Barney Corse, and Quaker abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper (1).

Corse had arbitrated a deal with Darg that in exchange for the return of the money, the slave’s freedom would be granted, and a small stipend would be paid to Corse.

The arbitration was discovered and annulled by the New York police who then arrested Ruggles and Corse, although they eventually won the slave’s freedom. The illustrator seems to criticize the Quakers and Ruggles for their supposed timidity and self-interest when confronted by the slave owner.

In the cartoon, Quaker Isaac Hopper says: “Verily friend Darg since we have returned thee thy money, I claim the reward of $1000. Brother Barney Corse was merely my Agent, verily!!”

David Ruggles: “I don’t like the looks of this affair. I’m afraid my pickings will not amount to much!”

White Man Barney Corse (Quaker arbitrator): “Yea verily I was but thy instrument Brother Hopper as Brother Ruggles here knoweth!

Man with a Chair: "Of all the d—-d pieces of impudence I ever know, this surpasses! Reward indeed! Get out of the house! The only reward you deserve is the halter or the States Prison, you scoundrels!”

--- (1) Quakers were a Christian denomination very involved in human rights since the 17th century.

Excellent article, with a great point. For those interested in learning more, "Gateway to Freedom" by Eric Foner is a good book. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2499848091

I think that’s one beautiful aspect of the scene in Schindlers list when they are agonizing over the list of names in tedious detail. It’s rare that this kind of work is dramatized without altering its quotidien nature.

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