I Was Born a Slave: 1849-1866 v. 2 (I Was Born a Slave): An Anthology of Classic Slave Narratives, 1849-1866 - Hardcover

Taylor, Yuval

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1556523351 ISBN 13: 9781556523359

Publisher: Chicago Review Press, 2000

Synopsis

Between 1760 and 1902, more than 200 book-length autobiographies of ex-slaves were published; together they form the basis for all subsequent African American literature. I Was Born a Slave collects the 20 most significant slave narratives. They describe whippings, torture, starvation, resistance, and hairbreadth escapes; slave auctions, kidnappings, and murders; sexual abuse, religious confusion, the struggle of learning to read and write; and the triumphs and difficulties of life as free men and women. Many of the narrativessuch as those of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobshave achieved reputations as masterpieces; but some of the lesser-known narratives are equally brilliant. This unprecedented anthology presents them unabridged, providing each one with helpful introductions and annotations, to form the most comprehensive volume ever assembled on the lives and writings of the slaves.
Volume two (18491866) includes the narratives of Henry Bibb, James W. C. Pennington, Solomon Northup, John Brown, John Thompson, William and Ellen Craft, Harriet Jacobs (Linda Brent), Jacob D. Green, James Mars, and William Parker.
"

About this title

Synopsis:

This volume includes astonishing tales of heroic slaves. One, born free, was kidnapped and enslaved for twelve years; one was experimented upon by a doctor to see how deep his black skin went; one disguised herself as a male slave-owner; one hid herself from a lustful master in a crawlspace for seven years; one delighted in playing cruel practical jokes; one went whaling to avoid being recaptured; and one led an armed posse to battle would be kidnappers.

About the Author:

Yuval Taylor is the coauthor of Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music and the editor of Growing Up in Slavery: Stories of Young Slaves as Told by Themselves.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1556523351
• ISBN 13: 9781556523359
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 796