People & Roles
She was an enslaved woman owned by George and Martha Washington who escaped to freedom.
Who is Ona Judge?
This word means “a person fleeing from captivity or legal custody.”
What is a fugitive?
This city was where Ona Judge first escaped from the Washingtons.
What is Philadelphia?
The main theme of the book, focused on Ona Judge’s determination.
What is freedom?
This is the genre of Never Caught.
What is nonfiction / biography / narrative nonfiction?
He was the first president of the United States and Ona Judge’s enslaver.
Who is George Washington?
The act of freeing someone from slavery or bondage.
What is emancipation?
The state where Ona Judge eventually settled and lived as a free woman.
What is New Hampshire?
Ona’s story challenges this myth about George Washington.
What is that he treated enslaved people with kindness or that he didn’t actively pursue them?
The author uses this technique to show Ona’s courage in the face of danger.
What is characterization or narrative detail?
This person was a free Black man who helped Ona Judge escape.
Who is the sailor (or free Black community)?
A system in which people are treated as personal property.
What is chattel slavery?
This 1793 law allowed slaveholders to pursue escaped enslaved people across state lines.
What is the Fugitive Slave Act?
Ona Judge’s story is important because it gives a voice to whom?
What are the enslaved / people often left out of traditional history?
The author includes historical documents and facts to support the story. This is called what?
What is evidence or documentation?
He was Washington’s secretary who played a role in trying to capture Ona.
Who is Joseph Whipple?
The practice of forcibly controlling a group through unjust power.
What is oppression?
Ona’s escape was made possible because this city had a large free Black population.
What is Philadelphia?
The book explores the contrast between the ideals of the American Revolution and this harsh reality.
What is slavery?
The book’s structure builds suspense by focusing on this major event.
What is Ona’s escape and pursuit?
This person offered Ona a deal to return to slavery in exchange for some freedoms, which she refused.
Who is Martha Washington (or George Washington’s emissary)?
A belief or system where someone claims to help others by making decisions for them “for their own good.”
What is paternalism?
The Washingtons regularly moved their enslaved people in and out of Pennsylvania to avoid this law.
What is the Gradual Abolition Act (Pennsylvania’s law that allowed enslaved people to be freed after six months’ residence)?
Ona’s repeated refusals to return, even under pressure, show her strong sense of this.
What is agency or resilience?
The author wrote this version of Never Caught for younger readers.
What is the Young Readers’ Edition?