441 The Escapes of David George

Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

History, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2026

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When David George lay sick with smallpox in Savannah during the Revolutionary War, he faced three possible outcomes: death, re-enslavement, or freedom. Greg O'Malley, Professor of History at UC Santa Cruz, follows David George across six decades and three continents, from enslaved Virginia to the Muscogee Creek nation, and from British-occupied Georgia to Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone, in his new book, The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution. It's a story that will change how you think about what the Revolution actually delivered, and for whom. Greg’s Website | Book Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/403 EPISODE OUTLINE00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:14 Welcome to Ben Franklin's World 00:02:31 Introducing Greg O'Malley and David George 00:05:43 David George's Odyssey Begins 00:08:12 The Rare Narrative of David George 00:11:07 Authenticating David George's Voice 00:13:39 David George's Multiple Escapes from Slavery 00:20:30 David George's Conversion to Christianity 00:24:53 Why Baptist? The Appeal of Evangelical Faith 00:29:52 David George's Family and Name 00:37:12 Life in Nova Scotia as a Refugee Preacher 00:42:03 Journey to Sierra Leone 00:54:44 Piecing Together David George's Later Years 00:59:49 Discovering the Silver Bluff Baptist Church 01:06:24 Time Warp: What If David George Stayed? 01:10:29 Reflections and TakeawaysRECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 008: Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade 🎧 Episode 322: Running from Bondage in Revolutionary America🎧 Episode 424: Dunmore's Proclamation🎧 Episode 434: The Frank Brothers: Freeborn Black Soldiers🎧 Episode 440: Brooke Newman, Jefferson's Cut Grievance and the British Monarchy's Role in Slavery SUPPORT OUR WORK🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s WorldREQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.comWHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community🌍 Join the History Explorers ClubTAKE THE QUIZ🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes)👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quizLISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 PandoraCONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s WebsiteSAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Some follow the noise.
0:05.6	Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion
0:10.3	dollar swings.
0:11.6	There's a money side to every story.
0:14.1	Get the money side of the story.
0:16.2	Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com.
0:21.1	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:25.1	Ben Franklin's World is a production of Clio Digital Media.
0:28.2	And support for this episode comes from the Massachusetts Historical Society.
0:32.2	The first historical society founded in the United States in 1791.
0:37.0	And I just couldn't believe it that 250 years later, right, we're at the 250th anniversary
0:44.5	of the American Revolution, his name is still remembered as founding this Black Baptist
0:50.7	congregation that still exists on the Savannah River in South Carolina. So even though
0:57.5	he ran away, one of the arguments I make in the book, he flees the United States in the moment
1:04.0	of its creation. But I think he's the type of founding father figure. If by founding father, we mean the
1:09.9	people who built the key institutions of American
1:12.4	life. Because the Black Baptist Church is a crucial institution of American life and even of
1:18.0	American democracy, I would argue, with the role that it played in the civil rights movement
1:22.0	and in voter registration and, you know, fighting for civil rights and the Civil Rights Act.
1:35.5	Yeah. registration and, you know, fighting for civil rights and the Civil Rights Act. Hello there, and welcome to Ben Franklin's World.
1:38.4	The podcast dedicated to helping you learn more about how the people and events of our
1:43.1	early American past have shaped
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 11 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Liz Covart, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Liz Covart and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.