The biblical story of Exodus had a profound influence on America’s fight against slavery. Slaves in pre-Civil War America drew hope from the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt, seeing that story as a promise of their own freedom. Jewish Americans also joined the fight against slavery, including abolitionist August Bondi, who helped escaped slaves through the Underground Railroad and later served in the Union Army. Do Americans today underestimate how much the Bible shaped our nation’s understanding of freedom?