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He probably had no way to prove that his family was alive and it was a plot to get him back to the south or try to arrest anyone who aided him. So unfortunately it was not a good idea for him to even attempt to follow up on the lead.
His motivation to escape was because his family got sold and now when he had the opportunity to buy his family he declines. That shows you the type of man he is.
I'm familiar with this story about Henry "Box" Brown but I didn't know that he didn't try to obtain his first family's freedom. It's a very interesting story about what people will endure to have "freedom." Even if he didn't want his first family back in his life at the very least he could have helped them to get their freedom, period!
Hi, Brenda-- he fought very hard for his family. I encourage you to listen to another retelling of the story ua-cam.com/video/57S529x3uNY/v-deo.html 34:52 mark
I love his courage! The only thing I was truly sad for was that other slaves couldn't mail themselves to freedom like he did, because once they told his story, the authorities started checking every box much more closely!
In his 1849 narrative, Brown states that he obtained permission to marry Nancy which he did. They were together for 12 years though she was sold several times. After she and the children were taken but not yet shipped to North Carolina he tried to find someone who would buy them before being transferred south but he could not find anyone that would do so. He does not say whether he had the money to make the purchase or was expecting to borrow it. After gaining his freedom he used his growing popularity to collect the $1200 needed to purchase his wife and children. He does not say why he ultimately did not do so which is at odds with the pages he dedicated to retelling the anguish and heartache he felt at their loss with the 1851 edition of his Narrative greatly expanded. He tells of walking with her for 4 hours, hand-in-hand, with her wrapped in heavy chains before their final separation. The transcribed version of the 1851 edition I read did not mention the fund to buy his wife and children. He died June 15, 1897 and is buried in Toronto’s Necropolis Cemetery. His second wife Jane died from a fall on June 6, 1924 in Kane, Pennsylvania and their daughter Annie died on April 13, 1971 in Pennsylvania.
What? His family was sold and sent to North Carolina. You have to remember that black people were treated much worse then the family goat, or chickens. He couldn’t just go Willy Nilly marching upon the door steps of his wife’s owners and demand her and his children back. Can you imagine not even being able to see a doctor because of your skin color? It wasn’t until 1865 that President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery. With that being said, it wasn’t like “ok, everyone is free, let’s all be equals now” hell, if you watch the news, IT STILL isn’t fixed. (RIP George Floyd) So this man didn’t have liberty until he left the country. He was able to fall in love again, but make no mistake, a man that burned himself and mailed himself in a box is a man that was determined to change things for the betterment of that family he was robbed of. The white man has a lot of nerve in all honesty. Being white myself I cannot imagine boarding a ship, sailing to “The new world” killing the people that were already here, then making deals in Africa to buy their sons, daughters, wives and children under the guise of hope and a bright future only to for them to become slaves. Each and every one of those first depraved pilgrims that landed at Plymouth Rock have a lot of explaining to do. You’ve been taught about Thanksgiving where the Indians (called that because dumb ass Christopher Columbus thought he was in fecking India 😏) and Pilgrims sat down and broke bread together. Yeah, but did were you taught that the pilgrims contaminated blankets with syphilis and then GIFTED those blankets to the Indians? Such a nice Christian thing to do. Can you even imagine being crammed in a box for all those hours and traveling approximately 250 miles? My luck I would have pee’d my pants in the first half hour!
@@valerief1231 Actually it was smallpox, not syphilis. As for slaves from Africa, it was often their own people, usually from different tribes who sold them to the whites. I am white too. I do not feel I have to apologize for the actions of my race many, many years ago. They lived in different times, with different thoughts and ideas. As a species, I feel we all have a very long way to go before we begin to accept each other as equals irrespective of skin or religion. Maybe it will never happen, who knows? I only am responsible to myself and my Creator for my actions. I treat people as I would like to be treated. It is up to them, as individuals, how they respond to that. With that being said, let the name calling begin. Doesn't bother me. I have been called many names over the years by people, often anonymously, but not been called a name by anyone better than me.
Agreed. Very sad. And even more sad is the precedent set by indirect example & repeated by F. Douglass, H. Craft, Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis, Jr., Quincey Jones, OJ Simpson, et al, which did nothing to produce Justice. [Btw, syphillis did wipe out many Native American people, it has been documented, in the former Sandwich Islands (South Pacific), & South & Central Americas, & North American regions where the Spanish & French held territories. Throughout British, Portugal & Dutch rule, no native people were legally classified as “people.”] Individuals are “assigned” the task from their birth into the genus phylum species homo sapien sapien of producing Justice: just outcomes & balance between all Life on planet earth. To the extent that they do so, they are of value, they are of Truth. To the extent that they cause mistreatment, directly or indirectly, they operate against the order of Nature & against the order of Truth, Justice & Correctness (in all our dealings) logically, set by its Creator. 🖖🏽🙏🏽🌱
@@valerief1231 I think you missed the part of the video where the slave owner of his wife and children approached him and gave him the opportunity to buy them
Thank you for creating these videos. I particularly enjoy the range of diversity in them. This one is an incredible & ingenious tale that ought to be a modern legend, what a Man! Fantastic!
You do realize there was absolutely no way to know where his family was, if they were still alive and if they had been kept together (in most cases they wouldn't have been). Stop using your modern concept of "love" to judge this man
Great history! His story would be interesting to read! There has to be more to the part about not getting his family back too.(People like to judge without having all the details! ) The 2 men who flipped the box over and sat on it, don't realize that they saved him! Thanks!
You say you never keep a slave. That is an admirable statement but you are judging people by the standards of the 21th century. Slavery was a fact in the 19th century. The growing abolitionist movement showed that people were becoming increasingly uncomfortable it and eventually outlawed it.
I really appreciated the courage and strength it took for the beginning of the story. When you got to the part that he didn't try to help his family it made me sick at my stomach. What an ass!
The end just blew me !!!! All that and he left his family in slavery to create a panorama themed on slavery but yet he left his family enslaved,shame on him ,that was a sad ending!
Let me just say that this is the FIRST time I've EVER heard of this man's story!!! I never knew that someone in the days of slavery had done something so life changing and dangerous and important!!! He was definitely blessed and I'm so glad to have learned of this. Like I said before, THESE are the kind of stories that I LOVE hearing and learning about. Although not every story has a happy ending, but thank you for this. Especially with all that's going on, racism unfortunately has not been completely overcome or eradicated. We've come along way as a peopld, but the hatred and racism is still there! We as a new generation should make sure we teach our children and bury deep ONCE AND FOR ALL the word racism , or ANYTHING to do with it. I went off on a tangent, sorry .lol...thanks for another great videi!!!
And there were also some asshats in the north that would capture blacks and sell them back to the south illegally, and these people were known to be extremely cruel. So Brown had to be extremely careful and its good he went to England where things are much better.
Oh my God, agt brought me here his story was almost perfect if he managed to freed his FAMILY, HE HAS FOUR CHILDREN. I cant judge things way back, but when you have a Family, you and your family Becomes one.
We may not know the asking price, or what the total circumstances were. If he was asked to "come and get them" and people knew it was a trap. Maybe he never even liked the wife much. WE don't know but yeah, overall it does seem like a shit move, but...like I said, we don't know all the circumstances.
Omg he REFUSED to grant his family the freedom he almost died for! What a cruel man. Even if you didn't want them he could've at least tried to help them
You do realize there was absolutely no way to know where is family was, if they were still alive and if they had been kept together (in most cases they wouldn't have been). Stop using your modern concept of "love" to judge this man
There’s deep reasons behind every decision Henry made. We’re talking slavery times in all of his situations. Imagine if he went to where his family was to buy them back? I’m sure whoever sent him the offer had a malicious plan. Never know how many racist people hated Henry and wanted him dead bc of what he had done. Henry seemed to be really smart and gave each of his ideas some thinking. He probably saved his own life by declining the offer to get his family back.
I was like why not when I heard that ....It really broke my heart...Just so sad...He had a way of saving his family ..then didn't.....ugh ...I was in tears...I can't even imagine how his wife and children felt....My heart goes out to them....How could he do that!?
Lots of Slaves had to sacrifice ever seeing their loves again after escaping. It was highly risky to let any Slave Master and Slave Bounty hunters know an escaped Slave residence or hiding. The Fugitive Slave law was big business for Bounty hunters.
Woo hoo a new sponsor and the back pack looks awesome! I wouldn't mind having one of those!! Thank you for the excellent life of "Box" Brown! A Truly inspiring man! We all should cherish the freedoms we have in this day and age, and never take them for granted. He surely strove for a better future for himself and his fellow man!
This reminds me of a museum in Berlin, Germany, where they have exhibits on the amazing and often dangerous and risky ways people escaped from the east to the west.
I’m glad to see you’ve got a sponsor! Good on you! I remember hearing a bit about Brown as a child in school, but your research goes much farther in depth than what I remember learning. There are a few things some people need to realize about this time period. First of all, slaves didn’t marry in the traditional sense. There was no ceremony, no legality to the union, and no control over the fate of your own life and the lives of your spouse or any children of the union. You and/or your family members could be sold off for any reason at any time, and there were many other horrible things that happened to these poor souls during their lifetime. Second, I wonder how much the slave owner wanted for Brown’s family. Considering there was the wife and four children, and at that time period slaves commanded top dollar, I wonder if he was told a price that he didn’t think he’d ever accrue in his lifetime. It sounds pretty cold for it to be presented that he ‘declined’ to buy them, but that may have been gossip, not the truth. Once again you give us an interesting, unique story of a life lost to most in the annals of time, well chronicled, and delivered with aplomb. Thanks! I look forward to your next forgotten life!
I also believe there were extenuating circumstances that hindered him from being able to "buy back" his family. He didn't seem like the kind of man who would have done something like that especially with how much he suffered for them when they were sold. That was basically the whole catalyst to his escape! I'm glad that there are people who think with common sense!
I couldn't leave my child. If I had a way to get my family back I would. My son is 18 now. I tell you, carrying him for 9+ months and raising him WASN'T enough time with him. He's in the army now.
He refused to buy his wife and children their freedom, then moved to England, remarried and had more kids? WTF? Something about that is just wrong. I mean, unless the guy was trying to lure him back to slave states or charging an insane amount, there's no justification for that. Especially since he knew what their life was like - including his children's. While his story is certainly fascinating, I find him and his morals lacking. That was 5 people who could have been freed and may have made a significant impact in the world, if given that chance.
He had an impressive life! And I applaud his ingenuity in his escape! But why did he abandoned his family to slavery, that was a cold thing to do to your own flesh and blood!
I was so happy for him until he left his own flesh and blood to continue to endure slavery. THAT IS NOT A HERO, THAT IS A ZERO. What a creep. 👎🏻👎🏻. Great video, thank you 👍🏻
Winnifred Forbes that’s not why he’s answering that question, he’s answering on the legality of his 2nd marriage as people keep asking how he got married and wasn’t arrested for bigamy. Calm down
Does not matter he made ,a commitment to her , lived with her and four children ( last not born before they were sold) He earned money but did not use it to buy back his family. THAT was his first responsibility to get His family then make it legal if it was not.
I can’t respect any person that could knock any woman up 4x then essentially ditch her and the children to slave owners after being offered a chance to get them back. People who really love their families would’ve done anything to get their loved ones back. That’s just too messed up. That’s not any man worth remembering for any other reason than the comedy of being mailed in a box.
The true villains are the slaveholders who put these *people* in these types of convoluted, inhumane situations in the first place - not the enslaved people who had to work within a system that treated them as property. Did you forget the part of the story where Brown had been paying 50 dollars a year to his family's slaveholder, while still a slave himself, because he had been promised that the slaveholder would not sell his family? He had therefore already been tricked once before. There is also nothing comedic about an enslaved man having to mail himself to freedom.
Shame he should be respected but from me he’s not. I feel so bad for his family, knowing how he preached for equality and was getting famous and rich BUT wouldn’t help his own who he claimed to love........ !?!?!?
Hi Nancy! Incredible story isn't? Traveling inside the box! Loved when he came out of the box: " How do you do gentlemen!" Hope you are well! Good night😇💕😴
He spoiled the chance for other slaves to mail themselves to freedom because he wanted the notoriety AND he didn't get his family. Naw screw him!! He wasn't a hero he was a jerk who just so happened to be born a slave.
Did u not hear the video narrator state that it was the abolitionists, who wanted 2boost their pub- lic &financial support, by publicising Henry's jour- ney. They were dissuaded from doing so, but the cat was already out of the bag! Thus, the ancillary persons were eventually caught, de- tained &convicted as ac- complices. So much 4dis- cretion!
For abandoning his family and leaving his children in slavery while FULLY knowing the types of things that could and would happen to them he is a massive fail. He didn’t deserve his fame and should only be used as a bad example of a human being. He should be forgotten. **burns his finger off to get out of slavery to leave his children and wife in slavery**👎
You should do one on Princess Qajar from Persia. She should be talked about more. She was outspoken, and at the time considered beautiful. She also wore western clothes and was very fashionable.
First thing I thought!! He actually sounded like a selfish person and had the nerve to remarry and come back to the hell whole of the us during slavery
If he was so determined to get his family back it could be the price the slave owners asked for was extortionate as they used to sell each family member individually. It’s truly awful that they weren’t given their freedom.
In the director's commentary in the movie CSA, which I enjoyed greatly, they bring up Brown. His experience inspired a similar described scene set in the present day where a modern-day slave escapes in a FedEx box (or ConEx in the film). :-)
Great account of his story. I remember hearing about his story but not to this level of detail. Sad about his family but can't really criticize him without knowing the details. I am sure there was a price for obtaining his family and that may or may not have been a deterrent. If they wanted him to come get them personally would have also been a problem. Hopefully they were able to survive and gain their freedom after the Civil War. Anyway, thanks for providing such an abundance of quality content.
My God this is terrible! No human should be treated like this! How did he pee and poop? And not die from dehydrate? I always love Your stories! Hugs from Sweden
He was an enslaved man. He did not enslave his wife and children. Never forget who the true villains are; they're the slaveholders and society who placed people like Henry and his families in these barbaric positions in the first place. Henry had already been burned once before, when he was paying his family's slaveholders annually to never sell them, despite still being enslaved himself. It may be that he distrusted the word of yet another slaveholder looking to profit off of his family members. These arrangements - whereby free blacks purchased family members' freedom - were rarely enforced by the courts, and freed blacks were often sold right back into slavery. Enslaved people were also accustomed to moving on without their family members because they had no choice. Here one minute, gone the next. What to you may seem like a gut-wrenching, cold-hearted act was just another day in the life of an enslaved individual. He also wouldn't have had the money to purchase his family. Purchasing just one slave was the equivalent of buying a house in today's money - especially if that slave was young and/or of child-producing age, like Henry's family members were.
Fun fact: in the early 20th century the US Postal Service's package delivery wasn't entirely clear on what could and couldn't be mailed. Several people used the vagueness to mail their kids as stamps were much cheaper than a railway ticket. (They didn't have to hide them in a box!) One woman mailed her six-year-old daughter from her home in Florida to her father’s home in Virginia. At 720 miles, it was longest postal trip of any of the children, and cost 15 cents in stamps. The postal service eventually clamped down on the practice.
For the record, Henry made multiple failed attempts to save his wife. Those cowards stole everything they could from that man while stringing him along making him think they could save his wife. Stop passing judgment and understand he was a slave as well and he did all that he could.
He received an offer to purchase them to freedom -- and he declined. And knew he was wrong because he then tried to keep it a secret. So, "multiple failed attempts" where??? Stop caping for no-count men.
@@vonbook1973 im good on the negativity but he had no way in affording to keep them while being robbed from his owners point blank and period. Go read his memoir
Thank you for this! The way it was said in the video made me think he had moved on to a new woman or something and just left his family in slavery. That’s terrible they strung him along.
Well lost all admiration when he REFUSED to at least get his family's freedom.. He loved the attenrion he got. So much for his broken heart over the loss of his family. He is definetly a fair weather friend. Can you imagine the deep heart felt loss his wife and children felt when told he refused to help them. The ,abandonment would be awful and knowing he was free and went on enjoying his life. The gall of him to remarry. I wonder after the war and he came back here if his first children tried to contact him. Sorry but this man's,story is not worth mentioning as something unique.
Brown escaped, he didn't deserve the accolade bestowed to him. He never returned to help any of the people in chains. And your all uptight about him not getting his family back... They stop coming to his mind
I wonder what happened to his first wife and children? I'm disappointed that he was a deadbeat to them. Even if she had taken up with another man thinking she'd never see Henry again, he should have supported his 4 children, morally
Good for him, it certainly was ingenious. But why wouldn't he buy his family back??? If he was religious, marriage is for life, then to happily marry again well that's bigamy. I can't help but feel sorry for his first wife, of course she could have been an evil she monster from hell. Would love to hear her perspective on this. It's so wrong that families were split up like this, stuff like this should never have happened in the first place. No one should own anyone.
Slaves were never allowed to legally marry, just jump the broom and that was never performed by a priest, just someone on the plantation. If you’re American and you don’t know that, it’s sad considering I’m African and I do
@@prettyinpinky5937 in 1793 Upper Canada (Ontario) passed the anti slavery act. In PEi complete abolition of slavery in 1825. The Imperial abolition was 1834. After that we had the Underground Railroad which was a positive moment in Canadian history.😊 and that we learn in school, not so much the American history.
What’s sad about this is that when Henry met Nancy they became close and wanted to get engaged. When Henry and Nancy asked if they could get married Henry mentioned Nancy what’s going to have babies. They were aloud to get married after the mention of Nancy being pregnant. While Henry was working, he was told that his wife and his three kids were sold he needed a plan to escape. His plan was to mail himself to Philadelphia in a box, but he needed a plan to avoid work. He decided to use a particular oil/acid and would put it on the middle on his hand down to the bone. After that he bandaged his hand and went in the box a day after. In black marker Henry wrote “This side up with care.” After that, he was shipped to Philadelphia and was greeted politely.
I’m not sure how to message you regarding a person that I thought would be a great *Forgotten Lives* video so I’ll just comment here. Could you do a video on *Gilles De Rais?* I only know a little bit about him but what I have heard, was somethin’ else!
And I'm back....Dear God,I couldn't even finish.It's said he was attempting to summon a demon of some sort.But what did he need with a mere demon when he was satan himself😠😠😠😠
Today's sponsor: healthymindset2u.com/home/ols/products/anti-theft-backpack-with-usb
Remember to use the code forgottenlives for 30% off! At this moment there is only UK delivery!
Thank you FLives! Congrats on your Sponsor! I thought i was later! Had bit nap after extra night work. Will enjoy now!
Congratulations on getting a sponsor!!!👏👏👏❤🧡💛
Thank you! I enjoyed this true historic story
Thank You😊
He probably had no way to prove that his family was alive and it was a plot to get him back to the south or try to arrest anyone who aided him. So unfortunately it was not a good idea for him to even attempt to follow up on the lead.
His motivation to escape was because his family got sold and now when he had the opportunity to buy his family he declines. That shows you the type of man he is.
I'm familiar with this story about Henry "Box" Brown but I didn't know that he didn't try to obtain his first family's freedom. It's a very interesting story about what people will endure to have "freedom." Even if he didn't want his first family back in his life at the very least he could have helped them to get their freedom, period!
Hi, Brenda-- he fought very hard for his family. I encourage you to listen to another retelling of the story ua-cam.com/video/57S529x3uNY/v-deo.html 34:52 mark
i agree he should have helped them to freedom
@@rianalauren Sounds easy
You’re white aren’t you?
It was not safe for him to return to the South.He was wanted,and an escaped slave!!!!!
What an amazing story and what an inspirational man, sad about leaving his family in North Carolina
Love your channel #!!!!!
Cheers BC!
I love his courage! The only thing I was truly sad for was that other slaves couldn't mail themselves to freedom like he did, because once they told his story, the authorities started checking every box much more closely!
In his 1849 narrative, Brown states that he obtained permission to marry Nancy which he did. They were together for 12 years though she was sold several times. After she and the children were taken but not yet shipped to North Carolina he tried to find someone who would buy them before being transferred south but he could not find anyone that would do so. He does not say whether he had the money to make the purchase or was expecting to borrow it. After gaining his freedom he used his growing popularity to collect the $1200 needed to purchase his wife and children. He does not say why he ultimately did not do so which is at odds with the pages he dedicated to retelling the anguish and heartache he felt at their loss with the 1851 edition of his Narrative greatly expanded. He tells of walking with her for 4 hours, hand-in-hand, with her wrapped in heavy chains before their final separation. The transcribed version of the 1851 edition I read did not mention the fund to buy his wife and children. He died June 15, 1897 and is buried in Toronto’s Necropolis Cemetery. His second wife Jane died from a fall on June 6, 1924 in Kane, Pennsylvania and their daughter Annie died on April 13, 1971 in Pennsylvania.
Some very nice details, thanks!
Thank you for sharing those details
🙏🏾 Thank you for sharing your knowledge, the update, and detailed information for myself and others to read, research, and learn from 😃 📚🧠👩🏾💻 .
That's sad that he didn't save his family. Even if he didn't want to be with them, he had the opportunity to set them free.
What? His family was sold and sent to North Carolina. You have to remember that black people were treated much worse then the family goat, or chickens. He couldn’t just go Willy Nilly marching upon the door steps of his wife’s owners and demand her and his children back. Can you imagine not even being able to see a doctor because of your skin color? It wasn’t until 1865 that President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery. With that being said, it wasn’t like “ok, everyone is free, let’s all be equals now” hell, if you watch the news, IT STILL isn’t fixed. (RIP George Floyd) So this man didn’t have liberty until he left the country. He was able to fall in love again, but make no mistake, a man that burned himself and mailed himself in a box is a man that was determined to change things for the betterment of that family he was robbed of.
The white man has a lot of nerve in all honesty. Being white myself I cannot imagine boarding a ship, sailing to “The new world” killing the people that were already here, then making deals in Africa to buy their sons, daughters, wives and children under the guise of hope and a bright future only to for them to become slaves. Each and every one of those first depraved pilgrims that landed at Plymouth Rock have a lot of explaining to do. You’ve been taught about Thanksgiving where the Indians (called that because dumb ass Christopher Columbus thought he was in fecking India 😏) and Pilgrims sat down and broke bread together. Yeah, but did were you taught that the pilgrims contaminated blankets with syphilis and then GIFTED those blankets to the Indians? Such a nice Christian thing to do.
Can you even imagine being crammed in a box for all those hours and traveling approximately 250 miles? My luck I would have pee’d my pants in the first half hour!
@@valerief1231 Actually it was smallpox, not syphilis.
As for slaves from Africa, it was often their own people, usually from different tribes who sold them to the whites.
I am white too. I do not feel I have to apologize for the actions of my race many, many years ago. They lived in different times, with different thoughts and ideas. As a species, I feel we all have a very long way to go before we begin to accept each other as equals irrespective of skin or religion. Maybe it will never happen, who knows? I only am responsible to myself and my Creator for my actions. I treat people as I would like to be treated. It is up to them, as individuals, how they respond to that.
With that being said, let the name calling begin. Doesn't bother me. I have been called many names over the years by people, often anonymously, but not been called a name by anyone better than me.
Agreed. Very sad. And even more sad is the precedent set by indirect example & repeated by F. Douglass, H. Craft, Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis, Jr., Quincey Jones, OJ Simpson, et al, which did nothing to produce Justice.
[Btw, syphillis did wipe out many Native American people, it has been documented, in the former Sandwich Islands (South Pacific), & South & Central Americas, & North American regions where the Spanish & French held territories. Throughout British, Portugal & Dutch rule, no native people were legally classified as “people.”]
Individuals are “assigned” the task from their birth into the genus phylum species homo
sapien sapien of producing Justice: just outcomes & balance between all Life on planet earth.
To the extent that they do so, they are of value, they are of Truth. To the extent that they cause mistreatment, directly or indirectly, they operate against the order of Nature & against the order of Truth, Justice & Correctness (in all our dealings) logically, set by its Creator. 🖖🏽🙏🏽🌱
@@valerief1231 I think you missed the part of the video where the slave owner of his wife and children approached him and gave him the opportunity to buy them
@@personincognito3989 the price was a price he could not afford.
A trip down memory lane... I worked at a YMCA camp and we had a box prop for a living history demonstration...Henry Brown’s story.
Thank you for creating these videos. I particularly enjoy the range of diversity in them.
This one is an incredible & ingenious tale that ought to be a modern legend, what a Man!
Fantastic!
Was going so good until he didnt try to get his family back, that's just cruel, those poor kids 😔
May be he got signals that this was a maybe a trap? Instead of really the chance to have his family back? We will never know.
@@lianafrancees9280 we'll never know but we do know he didnt even try
I thought the same thing
I agree. I was really impressed with him until that.
You do realize there was absolutely no way to know where his family was, if they were still alive and if they had been kept together (in most cases they wouldn't have been). Stop using your modern concept of "love" to judge this man
Great history! His story would be interesting to read! There has to be more to the part about not getting his family back too.(People like to judge without having all the details! ) The 2 men who flipped the box over and sat on it, don't realize that they saved him! Thanks!
Slavery is a stain on many countries that will never go away I personally could never keep any one as a slave great video very informative
You say you never keep a slave.
That is an admirable statement but you are judging people by the standards of the 21th century.
Slavery was a fact in the 19th century.
The growing abolitionist movement showed that people were becoming increasingly uncomfortable it and eventually outlawed it.
I really appreciated the courage and strength it took for the beginning of the story. When you got to the part that he didn't try to help his family it made me sick at my stomach. What an ass!
Wow! what a story! I was hoping to hear he would try save his family...still the horrors he had to endure! so sad.
Thanks :)
Fabulous video. What such an amazing incredible story of survival. Thanks for the upload.
;D
The end just blew me !!!! All that and he left his family in slavery to create a panorama themed on slavery but yet he left his family enslaved,shame on him ,that was a sad ending!
Let me just say that this is the FIRST time I've EVER heard of this man's story!!! I never knew that someone in the days of slavery had done something so life changing and dangerous and important!!! He was definitely blessed and I'm so glad to have learned of this. Like I said before, THESE are the kind of stories that I LOVE hearing and learning about. Although not every story has a happy ending, but thank you for this. Especially with all that's going on, racism unfortunately has not been completely overcome or eradicated. We've come along way as a peopld, but the hatred and racism is still there! We as a new generation should make sure we teach our children and bury deep ONCE AND FOR ALL the word racism , or ANYTHING to do with it. I went off on a tangent, sorry
.lol...thanks for another great videi!!!
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed!
Deserves a movie
He should not have left his family in slavery.
Creep, should have liberated his family. Selfish man.
Agree to a point, but slaves could not buy slaves. That was a ploy to get his money and most likely be recaptured.
And there were also some asshats in the north that would capture blacks and sell them back to the south illegally, and these people were known to be extremely cruel. So Brown had to be extremely careful and its good he went to England where things are much better.
Exactly, he never even helped other people!
@@ellyelly9654the fact he was criticised at the time tells you he could have bought them.
LOL, picturing someone trying to do this in the Christmas 2020 postal nightmare present time.
Mess around he still be in the mail right now lol 😂
"Family? What family?!?" -- da' Box.
Exactly...typical
What amazing man! Hard and sad life though! Loved to listen this story FLives. Great work on the video! Thank you so much.
Did enjoy your narration as always! Thank you for this incredible story. 8ads👍
Just relisten the video on my morning here. Thank you so much!
@@ElKE-j9g Thanks for leaving comments on each video :)
@@ForgottenLives My pleasure, and you are always very welcome! Thank you
He ditched his family? Oh, Henry!
He didn't save his family and just remarried. That is very sad.
He couldn’t
Oh my God, agt brought me here his story was almost perfect if he managed to freed his FAMILY, HE HAS FOUR CHILDREN. I cant judge things way back, but when you have a Family, you and your family Becomes one.
We may not know the asking price, or what the total circumstances were. If he was asked to "come and get them" and people knew it was a trap. Maybe he never even liked the wife much. WE don't know but yeah, overall it does seem like a shit move, but...like I said, we don't know all the circumstances.
Omg he REFUSED to grant his family the freedom he almost died for! What a cruel man. Even if you didn't want them he could've at least tried to help them
Right🤔😒
You do realize there was absolutely no way to know where is family was, if they were still alive and if they had been kept together (in most cases they wouldn't have been). Stop using your modern concept of "love" to judge this man
@@shevaunbryant8554 his family’s owner contacted him and ask if he wanted to buy his wife and children and he said no.
@@zoey7393 let’s turn our outrage to the people who actually thought they should own people.
There’s deep reasons behind every decision Henry made. We’re talking slavery times in all of his situations. Imagine if he went to where his family was to buy them back? I’m sure whoever sent him the offer had a malicious plan. Never know how many racist people hated Henry and wanted him dead bc of what he had done. Henry seemed to be really smart and gave each of his ideas some thinking. He probably saved his own life by declining the offer to get his family back.
Wait a minute.....he didn't buy his family back????ummmm....noooo... he's dead wrong
I was like why not when I heard that ....It really broke my heart...Just so sad...He had a way of saving his family ..then didn't.....ugh ...I was in tears...I can't even imagine how his wife and children felt....My heart goes out to them....How could he do that!?
😬 I guess we don’t know the full story or what you would do in such circumstances
Perhaps he thought he could do more to free all the slaves with that money or perhaps the price was beyond his means.
HIS FAMILY SLAVE MASTERS WANTED A VERY EXPENSIVE PRICE THAT HE COULD NOT AFFORD.
Lots of Slaves had to sacrifice ever seeing their loves again after escaping. It was highly risky to let any Slave Master and Slave Bounty hunters know an escaped Slave residence or hiding. The Fugitive Slave law was big business for Bounty hunters.
My ancestors used to be part of the underground railroad.
Great!
Thank you for the inspiring, timely and fascinating story of Henry Box Brown!
Glad you enjoyed it!
What a Cool Story👍 So Glad he was able to escape to Freedom💙Wish he would have got his Family back. Thanks for Awesome Work❤😉
Thanks for watching!
Woo hoo a new sponsor and the back pack looks awesome! I wouldn't mind having one of those!! Thank you for the excellent life of "Box" Brown! A Truly inspiring man! We all should cherish the freedoms we have in this day and age, and never take them for granted. He surely strove for a better future for himself and his fellow man!
Thanks for the support!
I feel bad for his first set of kids
Amazing tale. Thank you.
This reminds me of a museum in Berlin, Germany, where they have exhibits on the amazing and often dangerous and risky ways people escaped from the east to the west.
I've read some of the memoirs of former slaves, but don't recall ever hearing this story- thanks for sharing this amazing history as usual.
Oh my god this should be made into a film
Another fantastic story - I need a new backpack so thank you for the recommendation. CB
Great! Thanks!
I’m glad to see you’ve got a sponsor! Good on you! I remember hearing a bit about Brown as a child in school, but your research goes much farther in depth than what I remember learning. There are a few things some people need to realize about this time period. First of all, slaves didn’t marry in the traditional sense. There was no ceremony, no legality to the union, and no control over the fate of your own life and the lives of your spouse or any children of the union. You and/or your family members could be sold off for any reason at any time, and there were many other horrible things that happened to these poor souls during their lifetime. Second, I wonder how much the slave owner wanted for Brown’s family. Considering there was the wife and four children, and at that time period slaves commanded top dollar, I wonder if he was told a price that he didn’t think he’d ever accrue in his lifetime. It sounds pretty cold for it to be presented that he ‘declined’ to buy them, but that may have been gossip, not the truth. Once again you give us an interesting, unique story of a life lost to most in the annals of time, well chronicled, and delivered with aplomb. Thanks! I look forward to your next forgotten life!
I also believe there were extenuating circumstances that hindered him from being able to "buy back" his family. He didn't seem like the kind of man who would have done something like that especially with how much he suffered for them when they were sold. That was basically the whole catalyst to his escape! I'm glad that there are people who think with common sense!
No excuse, he sucks.
Fascinating man shame about the wife and children he left behind thanks 4 sharing this story i love your channel stay safe and I'll see u next week 😀
Thanks for the support!
I always look forward to your videos 🤗
Great to know! :)
I am enjoying this channel. Some stories I know already like this but others are new to me .
Thanks very much!
I couldn't leave my child. If I had a way to get my family back I would. My son is 18 now. I tell you, carrying him for 9+ months and raising him WASN'T enough time with him. He's in the army now.
hope u and your son will still be in contact in the future!
Thank you ☺️ so much for all of your content you have my support !!!☺️❤️❤️
He refused to buy his wife and children their freedom, then moved to England, remarried and had more kids? WTF? Something about that is just wrong. I mean, unless the guy was trying to lure him back to slave states or charging an insane amount, there's no justification for that. Especially since he knew what their life was like - including his children's. While his story is certainly fascinating, I find him and his morals lacking. That was 5 people who could have been freed and may have made a significant impact in the world, if given that chance.
Awesome story as always FL. Really enjoy these. Thanks for researching and putting together. 👍
Thanks fr the support!
He had an impressive life! And I applaud his ingenuity in his escape! But why did he abandoned his family to slavery, that was a cold thing to do to your own flesh and blood!
Awesome video! I like your channel. Many blessings for you. 👍🏽😃
I was so happy for him until he left his own flesh and blood to continue to endure slavery. THAT IS NOT A HERO, THAT IS A ZERO. What a creep. 👎🏻👎🏻. Great video, thank you 👍🏻
Many people asked about the marriage. His first marriage wasn't legally recognised!
Forgotten Lives don’t get why no one knows that. Slaves weren’t allowed to marry so they jumped the broom.
Doesn't matter. Legal or not, he had children.
Winnifred Forbes that’s not why he’s answering that question, he’s answering on the legality of his 2nd marriage as people keep asking how he got married and wasn’t arrested for bigamy. Calm down
Does not matter he made ,a commitment to her , lived with her and four children ( last not born before they were sold) He earned money but did not use it to buy back his family. THAT was his first responsibility to get His family then make it legal if it was not.
Amazing story, thank you
Great story, lots of history!
Someone said to read his memoir. His memoir would tell the story to suit him. He abandoned his family. Period.
Thanks for sharing another great story 👍🇦🇺👀
My pleasure!
I can’t respect any person that could knock any woman up 4x then essentially ditch her and the children to slave owners after being offered a chance to get them back. People who really love their families would’ve done anything to get their loved ones back. That’s just too messed up. That’s not any man worth remembering for any other reason than the comedy of being mailed in a box.
The true villains are the slaveholders who put these *people* in these types of convoluted, inhumane situations in the first place - not the enslaved people who had to work within a system that treated them as property. Did you forget the part of the story where Brown had been paying 50 dollars a year to his family's slaveholder, while still a slave himself, because he had been promised that the slaveholder would not sell his family? He had therefore already been tricked once before. There is also nothing comedic about an enslaved man having to mail himself to freedom.
@@anyaw340 👏🏿
selfish as hell
@@anyaw340 well said.....
Says a person who's ancestry NEVER had to deal with slavery.....
I wonder why he didn’t try to save his previous family. Or even try to find them after slavery was abolished. Sad
I remember reading about Henry Box Brown when I was a kid
Shame he should be respected but from me he’s not. I feel so bad for his family, knowing how he preached for equality and was getting famous and rich BUT wouldn’t help his own who he claimed to love........ !?!?!?
He was making money but couldn't free his first family from slavery?? I wonder what reasons he really had!
Thank you.🇺🇸
I am glad that those who did not know this true story can learn it here.
Peace out.
Hi Nancy! Incredible story isn't? Traveling inside the box! Loved when he came out of the box: " How do you do gentlemen!" Hope you are well! Good night😇💕😴
K
@@ElKE-j9g🍀 Hey Elke😃🤘🍀
He spoiled the chance for other slaves to mail themselves to freedom because he wanted the notoriety AND he didn't get his family. Naw screw him!! He wasn't a hero he was a jerk who just so happened to be born a slave.
Wow.
I can't judge this man.
Did u not hear the video narrator state that it was the abolitionists, who wanted 2boost their pub- lic &financial support, by publicising Henry's jour- ney. They were dissuaded from doing so, but the cat was already out of the bag! Thus, the ancillary persons were eventually caught, de- tained &convicted as ac- complices. So much 4dis- cretion!
For abandoning his family and leaving his children in slavery while FULLY knowing the types of things that could and would happen to them he is a massive fail. He didn’t deserve his fame and should only be used as a bad example of a human being. He should be forgotten. **burns his finger off to get out of slavery to leave his children and wife in slavery**👎
You should do one on Princess Qajar from Persia. She should be talked about more. She was outspoken, and at the time considered beautiful. She also wore western clothes and was very fashionable.
Will look her up, thanks!
@@ForgottenLives i just learned about her by accident a couple days back. From what I found she's very interesting figure in history.
OK. Not so much a hero. He left his family in slavery and remarried? You lost me there!
First thing I thought!! He actually sounded like a selfish person and had the nerve to remarry and come back to the hell whole of the us during slavery
Me to
That's EXACTLY whar I THOUGTH i DESPISE him an i dont even know him COWARD Period
fascinating in its inception and exception. wonderful way to do it.
If he was so determined to get his family back it could be the price the slave owners asked for was extortionate as they used to sell each family member individually. It’s truly awful that they weren’t given their freedom.
In the director's commentary in the movie CSA, which I enjoyed greatly, they bring up Brown. His experience inspired a similar described scene set in the present day where a modern-day slave escapes in a FedEx box (or ConEx in the film). :-)
Great account of his story. I remember hearing about his story but not to this level of detail. Sad about his family but can't really criticize him without knowing the details. I am sure there was a price for obtaining his family and that may or may not have been a deterrent. If they wanted him to come get them personally would have also been a problem. Hopefully they were able to survive and gain their freedom after the Civil War. Anyway, thanks for providing such an abundance of quality content.
Thanks for the story, never heard of it before.
Poor first family. 😔
Good wishes to you and followers Worldwide Xxx 🙏🏼 ❤️ 🍀 🗺️ 🏴
Thanks very much!
People are more upset that he didn't want to buy his family back than they are that his family was considered property for sell in the first place.
Are u as mad that Africans taught Europeans how to do the slave game? 🤷🏿🧐☕️
This story should be a movie 😮❤😊
My God this is terrible! No human should be treated like this!
How did he pee and poop? And not die from dehydrate?
I always love Your stories!
Hugs from Sweden
I suppose he held it in or had to do it in his small box! Thanks as usual :)
Henry was crazy resourceful to escape that way. Too bad he didn't save his family though. I wonder if the slave owner was asking for too much money.
He was selfish , deadbeat and self centered.
He was an enslaved man. He did not enslave his wife and children. Never forget who the true villains are; they're the slaveholders and society who placed people like Henry and his families in these barbaric positions in the first place. Henry had already been burned once before, when he was paying his family's slaveholders annually to never sell them, despite still being enslaved himself. It may be that he distrusted the word of yet another slaveholder looking to profit off of his family members. These arrangements - whereby free blacks purchased family members' freedom - were rarely enforced by the courts, and freed blacks were often sold right back into slavery. Enslaved people were also accustomed to moving on without their family members because they had no choice. Here one minute, gone the next. What to you may seem like a gut-wrenching, cold-hearted act was just another day in the life of an enslaved individual. He also wouldn't have had the money to purchase his family. Purchasing just one slave was the equivalent of buying a house in today's money - especially if that slave was young and/or of child-producing age, like Henry's family members were.
@@anyaw340 other people being bad dosen't make said persons actions less bad.
It's not a zero sum game.
Fun fact: in the early 20th century the US Postal Service's package delivery wasn't entirely clear on what could and couldn't be mailed. Several people used the vagueness to mail their kids as stamps were much cheaper than a railway ticket. (They didn't have to hide them in a box!)
One woman mailed her six-year-old daughter from her home in Florida to her father’s home in Virginia. At 720 miles, it was longest postal trip of any of the children, and cost 15 cents in stamps.
The postal service eventually clamped down on the practice.
For the record, Henry made multiple failed attempts to save his wife. Those cowards stole everything they could from that man while stringing him along making him think they could save his wife.
Stop passing judgment and understand he was a slave as well and he did all that he could.
He received an offer to purchase them to freedom -- and he declined. And knew he was wrong because he then tried to keep it a secret. So, "multiple failed attempts" where??? Stop caping for no-count men.
@@vonbook1973 im good on the negativity but he had no way in affording to keep them while being robbed from his owners point blank and period. Go read his memoir
@@KrissyJay777 He's a liar. He wanted to start over.
Thank you for this! The way it was said in the video made me think he had moved on to a new woman or something and just left his family in slavery. That’s terrible they strung him along.
@@Oldschoolways168 negative..
.
That was nothing but god that was with him
I'm late but here 😁. Thank-you as always 👍🤗
Hope you enjoyed!
A very brave man, its good that there were some decent people who helped him.
I hope that statue in Bristol, never gets put back.
Well lost all admiration when he REFUSED to at least get his family's freedom.. He loved the attenrion he got. So much for his broken heart over the loss of his family. He is definetly a fair weather friend. Can you imagine the deep heart felt loss his wife and children felt when told he refused to help them. The ,abandonment would be awful and knowing he was free and went on enjoying his life. The gall of him to remarry. I wonder after the war and he came back here if his first children tried to contact him. Sorry but this man's,story is not worth mentioning as something unique.
very smart to get away from slavery free dom at last very very good one sorry he did not get his family well done love this one very very nice story
What an amazing man!
A man who doesnt save his family is worth S. .... in my opinion.
Its easy to judge a man whose shoes you’ve never worn
Brown escaped, he didn't deserve the accolade bestowed to him. He never returned to help any of the people in chains. And your all uptight about him not getting his family back... They stop coming to his mind
I wonder what happened to his first wife and children? I'm disappointed that he was a deadbeat to them. Even if she had taken up with another man thinking she'd never see Henry again, he should have supported his 4 children, morally
I do love these and you present the very well
Thanks very much :D
What a brave man.
Why didn't Smith deliver the crate himself?
Hmmmmm he ditch his family and had the money and opportunity to secure their freedom but didn’t go figure .
learning about this in yr 5! :D
Great man 🇺🇸✝️👍
Good for him, it certainly was ingenious. But why wouldn't he buy his family back???
If he was religious, marriage is for life, then to happily marry again well that's bigamy.
I can't help but feel sorry for his first wife, of course she could have been an evil she monster from hell. Would love to hear her perspective on this. It's so wrong that families were split up like this, stuff like this should never have happened in the first place. No one should own anyone.
Slaves were never allowed to legally marry, just jump the broom and that was never performed by a priest, just someone on the plantation. If you’re American and you don’t know that, it’s sad considering I’m African and I do
@@prettyinpinky5937 hi I'm Canadian and no I didn't know that but even jumping the broom would that not be considered a marriage by him?
@@prettyinpinky5937 in 1793 Upper Canada (Ontario) passed the anti slavery act. In PEi complete abolition of slavery in 1825.
The Imperial abolition was 1834.
After that we had the Underground Railroad which was a positive moment in Canadian history.😊 and that we learn in school, not so much the American history.
Wtf troll much.. ingenious how we've been taken into your wicked plot. Lmao cheers
@@prettyinpinky5937 I still don't matter he should have got his family back
great story! this should be a movie. staring Denzel..but why didnt he come for his family?? hmmmmmm
Thanks ! It's not totally clear
I wonder if they ever made a movie about him
omg this makes boxie brown from AQTH so much more funny
What’s sad about this is that when Henry met Nancy they became close and wanted to get engaged. When Henry and Nancy asked if they could get married Henry mentioned Nancy what’s going to have babies. They were aloud to get married after the mention of Nancy being pregnant. While Henry was working, he was told that his wife and his three kids were sold he needed a plan to escape. His plan was to mail himself to Philadelphia in a box, but he needed a plan to avoid work. He decided to use a particular oil/acid and would put it on the middle on his hand down to the bone. After that he bandaged his hand and went in the box a day after. In black marker Henry wrote “This side up with care.” After that, he was shipped to Philadelphia and was greeted politely.
The times were extraordinary times in America.
27 hours to go 350 funky ass miles!!!!! ✊🏿
I’m not sure how to message you regarding a person that I thought would be a great *Forgotten Lives* video so I’ll just comment here. Could you do a video on *Gilles De Rais?* I only know a little bit about him but what I have heard, was somethin’ else!
I'm gonna go look this person up🏃🏾
And I'm back....Dear God,I couldn't even finish.It's said he was attempting to summon a demon of some sort.But what did he need with a mere demon when he was satan himself😠😠😠😠
After hearing he did not save his family..what a beast of a man. Curse him
He really just left his wife and kids like that and made a new family