North Carolina Slave Narratives: The Lives of Moses Roper, Lunsford Lane, Moses Grandy, and Thomas H. JonesWilliam L. Andrews The autobiographies of former slaves contributed powerfully to the abolitionist movement in the United States, fanning national--even international--indignation against the evils of slavery. The four texts gathered here are all from North Carolina slaves and are among the most memorable and influential slave narratives published in the nineteenth century. The writings of Moses Roper (1838), Lunsford Lane (1842), Moses Grandy (1843), and the Reverend Thomas H. Jones (1854) provide a moving testament to the struggles of enslaved people to affirm their human dignity and ultimately seize their liberty. Introductions to each narrative provide biographical and historical information as well as explanatory notes. Andrews's general introduction to the collection reveals that these narratives not only helped energize the abolitionist movement but also laid the groundwork for an African American literary tradition that inspired such novelists as Toni Morrison and Charles Johnson. |
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... Reading 17 A Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of moses roper Introduction by Ian Frederick Finseth 23 Note on the Text 33 Notes 33 Narrative 35 Notes 74 The Narrative of lunsford lane Introduction by Tampathia Evans 79 Note on the ...
... Reading 17 A Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of moses roper Introduction by Ian Frederick Finseth 23 Note on the Text 33 Notes 33 Narrative 35 Notes 74 The Narrative of lunsford lane Introduction by Tampathia Evans 79 Note on the ...
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... readers. Three weeks later Freedom's Journal took up the cause of Horton's freedom, urging its subscribers to contribute to the poet's purchase price, reputedly $500. In October David Walker madehisowndonationtohisfellowNorthCarolinian ...
... readers. Three weeks later Freedom's Journal took up the cause of Horton's freedom, urging its subscribers to contribute to the poet's purchase price, reputedly $500. In October David Walker madehisowndonationtohisfellowNorthCarolinian ...
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... reader that he apologizes from the outset of his story for certain aspects of his conduct on the road ''which I now deeply deplore.'' ''The ignorance in which the poor slaves are kept by their masters, preclude almost the possibility of ...
... reader that he apologizes from the outset of his story for certain aspects of his conduct on the road ''which I now deeply deplore.'' ''The ignorance in which the poor slaves are kept by their masters, preclude almost the possibility of ...
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... reader. Whether Roper truly regretted his duplicitous behavior while trying to elude his captors, or whether he simply was not sure that his readers would accept the survival ethic and alternate morality of the slave community in the ...
... reader. Whether Roper truly regretted his duplicitous behavior while trying to elude his captors, or whether he simply was not sure that his readers would accept the survival ethic and alternate morality of the slave community in the ...
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... reader, ''I have dwelt as little as possible upon the dark side—have spoken mostly of the bright.'' Bending over backward to be fair to slavery as he had known it, Lane characterizes himself from the outset of his story as the most ...
... reader, ''I have dwelt as little as possible upon the dark side—have spoken mostly of the bright.'' Bending over backward to be fair to slavery as he had known it, Lane characterizes himself from the outset of his story as the most ...
Contents
1 | |
A Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of MOSES ROPER Introduction | 23 |
Narrative | 35 |
The Narrative of LUNSFORD LANE Introduction | 79 |
Narrative | 93 |
Narrative of the Life of MOSES GRANDY Introduction | 133 |
Narrative | 153 |
The Experience of REV THOMAS H JONES Introduction | 189 |
Narrative | 203 |
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Common terms and phrases
abolitionists African American American Anti-Slavery Society antebellum antislavery asked autobiography blessed bondage Boston British brother captain Caswell County Christian church colored County cruel David Walker dear wife dollars Douglass edition escape father feel flogged Frederick Douglass freedom friends fugitive slave gave George Moses Horton Gooch Grandy’s hands Haywood heart Henry Box Brown hope John Scoble Jones Jones’s narrative kind knew labor Lane’s learn to read letter lived Lunsford Lane master meeting miles mistress morning Moses Grandy Moses Roper mother narrator negro never night North Carolina o’clock overseer passed person plantation pray prayer preached published purchase Raleigh readers replied sell sister slave narratives slaveholders slavery Smith sold soon South story tell Thomas H thought told took Trewitt wanted whipped wife’s William Wilmington woods write York