In antebellum Texas, Samuel Dawson does the unthinkable. He rejects the idea that Black people are subhuman and do not possess the same rights as whites. His defiance is met with hostility from his father and neighboring plantation owners. But Samuel does not succumb to the pressures exerted by others. He remains true to what…
What would you do to defend your freedom? Following the emancipation of slaves in Texas, twenty-year-old plantation owner Samuel Dawson faces new challenges. The state government is reticent to recognize social and political equality between Blacks and whites. Many Texans are determined to return the state to white dominance, threatening the thriving community that Samuel…
Can one person change the course of history? Challenging cultural paradigms is seldom a simple task, and it is particularly difficult for a twelve-year-old. Yet, in 1857, Samuel Dawson, the son of a slaveholder in Texas, does just that. He begins by befriending Will, an enslaved boy his father had recently purchased. Samuel’s father objects…