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 English 253
Course Notes
 


Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) was an African-born former slave who wrote one of the earliest slave narratives entitled The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. . His narrative describes his African homeland, his voyage from Africa to America and the cruelty of slavery and the slave trade.


wheatley

Phyllis Wheatley
Phyllis Wheatley (1753-1784) was an African-born slave whose book of poetry established her as the first internationally-known African American writer and the first to have a book published. Her poems reflect her Christianity and familiarity with Greek, Latin, and English poets. For example, her poem, "To Maecenas," is a request to a Roman aristocrat, who was a patron of Horace and Virgil, to approve her work. Her poems reflected historical events, such as the Revolutionary War but did not address the issue of slavery.


David Walker
David Walker ( 1785-1830) was a protest writer who opposed slavery. His Appeal in Four Articles denounces slavery and advocates freedom from oppression. His Preamble exposes the inequalities in America, and Article I argues for freedom while refuting Jefferson's claim that blacks are inferior to whites.


Truth

  Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), a former slave, advocated freedom for men and women. As a preacher, she traveled throughout the country, delivering speeches against slavery and for women's rights. Her most famous speech is entitled "Ar'n't I a Woman? Speech to the Women's Rights convention in Akron, Ohio, 1851" in which she declares that she is equal to a male.


Maria Stewart 
Maria Stewart (1803-1879) is considered the first female African American political writer. Her speeches and essays on slavery and women's rights were published in the book, Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart. Her speech, "Lecture Delivered at the Franklin Hall," urges African Americans to attempt to gain their freedom and equality.


Harriet Jacobs
Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) is the author of the first slave narrative written by an African American woman. In her narrative entitled Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she recounts her escape from slavery, referring to herself as Linda Brent. Her narrative reveals the sexual abuse that women in slavery experienced.


William Wells Brown 
William Wells Brown (1814-1884) was the first African American to publish a novel and drama. The son of a white slaveholder and a slave woman, he lived in slavery, but escaped and later published his autobiography, Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Written by Himself. His novel, Clotel; or, The President's Daughter, is based on the story of the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings. The novel introduces the theme of the "tragic mulatto," which refers to a character of mixed ancestry, usually a woman with a white father and a slave mother, who lives as a white person until his/her African ancestry is discovered; then the character is enslaved, dies, or faces social ostracism. 


Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was born into slavery but escaped and became a prominent abolitionist, writing and speaking out against slavery. His autobiography, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, is the model antebellum slave narrative. In his narrative, Douglass recounts with vivid details his life of slavery and his determination to be mentally and physically free. It was internationally acclaimed and established Douglass as a renown prose writer who was also an editor and essayist. 


Frances E.W. Harper
Frances E.W. Harper (1825-1911) was a poet, novelist, essayist, and journalist and was the most outstanding African American female writer before the twentieth century. She was considered an abolitionist poet who wrote about freedom and pride in her racial heritage, and equal rights. She was also concerned about the condition of women and often described the lives and contributions of women.