This book is about Francisco Menendez, a man born around 1700 in West Africa. He was captured and brought to North America where he was enslaved in South Carolina. In 1724, he and a small group escaped and traveled to St. Augustine where they became free men. There he joined a militia group and fought against the English for freedom. In 1738, he helped build Fort Mose, which was the first black community and an actual stop for slaves looking for freedom on the Underground Railroad. We learn about the groups of people whom lived there and the struggles they went through to remain free citizens.