Peter Randolph was born c. 1825 in Prince George County, Virginia, on the Brandon Plantation. He was enslaved upon birth and owned by Carter H. Edloe, who also held his mother and four or five siblings in bondage. Randolph's father was enslaved on a nearby plantation, and died when Randolph was approximately ten. Edloe had written a will directing that upon his death his slaves be freed and land he owned be sold, in part to pay his debts, but also to finance sending his former slaves to wh...

Peter Randolph's "Sketches of Slave Life" offers a poignant and unflinching glimpse into the brutal realities of American slavery through a series of vivid narratives and personal recollections. Written with a literary style that blends evocative imagery and earnest testimony, Randolph'Äôs work illustrates the psychological and physical torment endured by enslaved individuals, set against the backdrop of mid-19th century America. The book is a piercing indictment of the institution of slav...

Peter Randolph was born a slave in 1825 (?), was freed before the American Civil War, and became a clergyman in the Baptist tradition, dying in 1897. This is his 1893 autobiography. The latter third of the book is a slightly edited re-publication of a pamphlet he published in 1855 (so before the Civil War) entitled “Sketches Of Slave Life." This recording omits chapter fourteen of "From Slave Cabin To Pulpit" because it is only a several-pages-long list of friends of the author with no nar...

This book is the first anthology of the autobiographical writings of Peter Randolph, a prominent nineteenth-century former slave who became a Black abolitionist, pastor, and community leader. Randolph’s story is unique because he was freed and relocated from Virginia to Boston, along with his entire plantation cohort. A lawsuit launched by Randolph against his former master’s estate left legal documents that corroborate his autobiographies.Randolph's writings give us a window into ...

One voice. One story. A nation changed forever. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, the world hears for the first time the unforgettable account of a man born into bondage who broke his chains—not just for himself, but for generations to come. Published in 1845, this classic memoir became a rallying cry for abolition and remains one of the most important autobiographies in American history. ✊ Written with courage, clarity, and uncompromising truth. Douglas...

Ellen Craft and William Craft were slaves from Georgia who escaped to the North in 1848. They became famous due to the daring way they made their escape. Ellen, being light skinned, passed herself off as a white male, with William as her servant, allowing them to basically travel openly by train and steamboat. They eventually emigrated to England where they lived for almost 20 years. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom is their biographical account.

VOICES OUT OF SLAVERY is a collection of twenty-three slave narratives dating from the early 1700s to the 1860s.  All of these first-hand accounts of slavery provide valuable insight into the everyday lives of slaves, as well as incredible and disturbing descriptions of kidnappings, torture, and inhumane treatment.  While often disturbing, many of the narratives also include themes of overcoming slavery, gaining freedom, and inspiring others to combat the evils of slavery.

In publishing this book I hope to do good not only to my own race, but to all who may read it. I am not a book-maker, and make no pretensions to literary attainments; and I have made no efforts to create for myself a place in the literary, book-making ranks. I claim for my book truthfulness and honesty of purpose, and upon that basis it must succeed or fail. The Biography of a Slave is called for by a very large number of my immediate acquaintances, and, I am assured, will meet with such r...

Frederick Douglass's dramatic autobiographical account of his early life as a slave in America.Born into a life of bondage, Frederick Douglass secretly taught himself to read and write. It was a crime punishable by death, but it resulted in one of the most eloquent indictments of slavery ever recorded. His gripping narrative takes us into the fields, cabins, and manors of pre–Civil War plantations in the South and reveals the daily terrors he suffered.Writt...

Introduction by Kwame Anthony AppiahCommentary by Jean Fagan Yellin and Margaret FullerThis Modern Library edition combines two of the most important African American slave narratives—crucial works that each illuminate and inform the other.Frederick Douglass’s Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life;...

Mr. Washington, more than any other writer or lecturer, has solved the "race problem." The historical value of the book, and its uplifting influence give ''The Story Of My Life And Work'' a prominent place in modern literature. It is a volume for the family library along with the Life of Franklin, Emerson's Essays and the great autobiographies. There is no greaterstimulus for self-help, for Mr. Washington forged his way to the front by his own efforts.

In Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II, Charles Wentworth Upham offers one of the earliest exhaustive narrative histories of the 1692 Salem trials, combining archival documentation, local genealogy, courtroom testimony, and moral reflection. Written in a sober nineteenth-century historical prose, the work situates the outbreak within Puritan theology, village factionalism, colonial insecurity, and the legal culture of New England. Its style is meticulous and expansive, often moving from doc...