"I was born in Tuckahoe. I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant."So begins the now-classic personal account of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), who was born into slavery in Maryland and after his escape to Massachusetts...

"Harriet Jacobs's 1861 autobiography was the first written narrative by a female slave in America. Using the pseudonym Linda, Jacobs recounts the horrors of her life as a slave and a mother. She documents the physical and sexual abuse she went through prior to her escape from slavery and gaining freedom for herself and two children.

In telling the life of Harriet, Dred's wife and co-litigant in the case, this book provides a compensatory history to the generations of work that missed key sources only recently brought to light. Moreover, it gives insight into the reasons and ways that slaves used the courts to establish their freedom--From publisher description.

Taken from her family in Africa at the age of seven, Phillis Wheatley arrived in Boston as a slave in 1761. After she was purchased by the Wheatley family, Phillis quickly learned to speak and read English. The bright young girl soon began writing poetry. By 1771, her poems had been published in newspapers all over the colonies, and critics were praising the "extraordinary negro poetess." In this engaging biography, author Maryann Weidt tells the...

"Frederick Douglass's fluid, changeable sense of his own life story is reflected in the many conflicting accounts he gave of key events and relationships during his journey from slavery to freedom. Nevertheless, when these differing self-presentations are put side by side and consideration is given individually to their rhetorical strategies and historical moment, what emerges is a fascinating collage of Robert S. Levine's elusive subject. The Lives...

"Harriet Tubman: A Life in American History is an indispensable resource for high school and college students about the life and times of anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman, who exemplifies how slaves took the initiative to free themselves and others"-- Harriet Tubman: A Life in American History is an indispensable resource for high school and college students about the life and times of anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman, who exemplifies how...

See how Harriet Tubman impacted humanity, shaped the world, and changed the course of history.

This book provides readers with essays that present an overview of the more widely read slave narratives, including those by Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Solomon Northup, but also relatively lesser-known narratives, such as neo-slave narrative novels and slave narratives about slavery outside the U.S.A list of "Works Cited," along with endnotes, is also included

Provides a close-up look at this young African woman who became a celebrated poet of her time, writing elegies, or tributes to people she admired, as well as poems that used the themes of America's struggle for independence.