Books with author William Wells 1815-1884 Brown

"The first really important work in black history … perhaps his best book." Goezmann, Beyond the Revolution (2009)"William Wells Brown truly dominated the market of Black historical works in the postbellum period." -Van Hove, Congoism (2017)"A writer whose literary career is a remarkable catalog of firsts." -Arkansas Review (2004)"Scholars have called William Wells Brown the first African American to achieve distinction in belles lettres, or literature." – Africana (2004)In 1863, former slave William Wells Brown, a prominent African-American abolitionist lecturer, pioneering novelist, playwright, and black historian published perhaps his greatest work, "The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements."In introducing his work, Brown describes his purpose in writing the book as "to meet and refute misrepresentations, and to supply a deficiency, long felt in the community, of a work containing sketches of individuals who, by their own genius, capacity, and intellectual development, have surmounted the many obstacles which slavery and prejudice have thrown in their way, and raised themselves to positions of honor and influence."Growing up a slave, Brown is famously credited as being the author of the first novel, play, and travel book published by an African American in the United States.In his book "The Black Man," Brown argued for blacks' rights to full citizenship, and to make his case he includes a series of life histories of notable blacks, showing their contributions to the nation or region. Brown also highlights slaves' willingness to use violence to gain their freedom, including portraits of a number of revolutionary blacks who revolted against their slave masters.Brown's book opens with his own amazing life story, then is followed by an overview of black heritage going back to Ethiopia, Egypt, Minerva, Jupiter, Tertullian, St. Augustine, Hanno, Hamilcar Barca, and Hannibal---demonstrating the historical nature of the cosmopolitan black community. The remainder of the book is devoted to 57 short biographies of famous black historical figures including Benjamin Baneker, Nat Turner, Toussaint L'Ouverture, Crispus Attucks, Alexander Dumas, Denmark Vesey, Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass, James W.C. Pennington, Sir Edward Jordan, and John S. Rock.In describing his view on social justice, Brown writes that "every man must make equality for himself. No society, no government, can make this equality. I do not expect the slave of the south to jump into equality; all I claim for him is, that he may be allowed to jump into liberty, and let him make equality for himself."In describing his views on the high importance of self-improvement, Brown writes that "I have some white neighbors around me in Cambridge; they are not very intellectual; they don't associate with my family; but whenever they shall improve themselves, and bring themselves up by their own intellectual and moral worth, I shall not object to their coming into my society--all things being equal."Other works by the author include: •Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave•Three Years in Europe: Or, Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met•CLOTEL; or the President's Daughter •The American Fugitive in Europe•The Rising Son, or The Antecedents and Advancements of the Colored Race•My Southern Home: or, The South and Its People•The Negro in the American RebellionBiographies included in Brown's "The Black Man" include: •BENJAMIN BANNEKER•NAT TURNER•MADISON WASHINGTON•HENRY BIBB•PLACIDO•TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE•CRISPUS ATTUCKS•DESSALINES•IRA ALDRIDGE•JOSEPH CINQUE•ALEXANDRE DUMAS•HENRI CHRISTOPHE•PHILLIS WHEATLEY•JAMES WHITFIELD•FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS•EX-PRESIDENT ROBERTS•ALEXANDER CRUMMELL•ALEXANDRE PETION•MARTIN DELANY•ROBERT SMALL.•FREDERICK DOUGLASS•CHARLES REASON•CHARLOTTE FORTEN

William Wells Brown, who is credited with being the first African American novelist, crafts a groundbreaking piece of American fiction in his 1853 work “Clotel; Or, The President’s Daughter”. The long untouched subject matter of mixed race identity during the antebellum South is here treated with great deft and bravery. William Wells Brown confronts the hypocrisy of slavery, examining the detrimental effects it has on society. Even more direct is Brown’s confrontation of Thomas Jefferson’s controversial intimacy with his slaves, a relationship which bore many mixed race children. In “Clotel”, we follow the story of Clotel, a mixed-race daughter of Thomas Jefferson. Through this central character we witness the struggles of a person of mixed race in dealing with their split identity in a racially divided society. In her quest for freedom we find an ill-fated soul caught up in the difficulty of race relations in early American life. This tragic story brilliantly explores the complex history of slavery in the first part of the 19th century. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

William Wells Brown (1814-1884) is credited with being the first African American novelist. His 1853 work "Clotel; Or, The President's Daughter" is a groundbreaking piece of American fiction. The long untouched subject matter of mixed race identity during the antebellum South is here treated with great craft and bravery. William Wells Brown confronts the hypocrisy of slavery, examining the detrimental effects it has on society. Even more direct is Brown's confrontation of Thomas Jefferson's controversial intimacy with his slaves—a relationship which bore many mixed race children. In "Clotel", we follow the story of Clotel, a mixed-race daughter of Thomas Jefferson. The novel introduces the "tragic-mulatto" archetype into American fiction. With a split identity, this ill-fated soul is ruined by a racially divided society. Clotel wrestles with this existence as a mixed slave; as she vies for freedom we witness her struggle through life. This deft novel examines race relations in a troubled early America.

Clotel; or, The President's Daughter is an 1853 novel by United States author and playwright William Wells Brown, an escaped slave from Kentucky who was active on the anti-slavery circuit. Brown published the book in London, where he stayed to evade possible recapture due to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, but it is considered the first novel published by an African American and is set in the United States, reflecting the southern institution of slavery. Three additional versions were published through 1867. The novel explores slavery's destructive effects on African-American families, the difficult lives of American mulattoes or mixed-race people, and the "degraded and immoral condition of the relation of master and slave in the United States of America." It is a tragic mulatto story about a woman named Currer and her daughters Althesa and Clotel, fathered by Thomas Jefferson; their relatively comfortable lives end after Jefferson's death.

"My Southern Home: Or, the South and Its People" by William Wells Brown. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format. Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

First published in December 1853, "Clotel: or the President's Daughter" was written amid then unconfirmed rumors that Thomas Jefferson had fathered children with one of his slaves. "Clotel: or the President's Daughter" story begins with the auction of his mistress, here called Currer, and their two daughters, Clotel and Althesa. The Virginian who buys Clotel falls in love with her, gets her pregnant, seems to promise marriage-then sells her. Escaping from the slave dealer, Clotel returns to Virginia disguised as a white man in order to rescue her daughter, Mary, a slave in her father's house. A fast-paced and harrowing tale of slavery and freedom, of the hypocrisies of a nation founded on democratic principles, "Clotel: or the President's Daughter" is more than a sensationalist novel. It is a founding text of the African American novelistic tradition, a brilliantly composed and richly detailed exploration of human relations in a new world in which race is a cultural construct.