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AAS/EN 4343
Studies in African American Literature
The Slave Narrative of Brown’s Escape
William Wells Brown: The Importance of the Slave Narrative
William Wells Brown wrote his own autobiography, retelling his
life through the slave narrative that displays the losses and
triumphs he experienced. During his period as an enslaved
person, Brown attempted to escape three separate times. His first
attempt was as a child, fleeing the abuse he suffered, but
unfortunately he was forced to return or be killed. The second
time, Brown was older and had been working around St. Louis
on his master's steamboat. Brown tried again to leave with his
mother, traveling for nearly eleven days to obtain freedom.
However, he was caught and forced to serve again. Both times,
Brown was beaten and mistreated for seeking his freedom,
regardless of his age at either time. This did not deter him, for on
his third try, Brown finally obtained freedom with the help of
others along his journey. However, throughout each escape and
later life, Brown had to run from slave catchers continuously in
order to obtain or keep his freedom. Brown risked his reenslavement to spend two years working on a steamboat, helping
to bring other fugitives to Canada in safety he did not have. He
later married Elizabeth Spooner, a free black woman, and had
three daughters. William Wells Brown displays the horrible side
of enslavement throughout his narratives, including through his
autobiography. Thus, allowing the slave narrative to speak for
itself through his story and others that followed.
https://librivox.org/clotel-or-the-presidents-daughter-by-william-wells-brown/
Alala McDowell and Colleen McLaurin
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/william-wells-brown-wildcat-banker/
William Wells Brown
William Wells Brown was an African American male born in
Lexington, Kentucky, in 1814. At the age of 20, he was able to
escape slavery by fleeing from a steamboat on the Ohio River;
from there, he traveled across the state of Ohio to Cleveland.
Brown is well known for his many literary contributions, such
as Clotel and his biography William Wells Brown: An African
American Life. Brown is also well known as a political activist
and anti-slavery abolitionist. To help the fight against slavery,
Brown regularly attended meetings of the Western New York
anti-slavery society, where he would give many speeches.
Stemming from this, Brown would travel to other local
abolitionist gatherings to speak. William Wells Brown
impacted the 19th century and brought about change by indeed
publishing his own narrative of his life and the trials and
tribulations he endured, as well as writing and publishing
books about black history.
Clotel: A Fictional tragedy and Truth
As a well-known figure within the slave narrative, focusing on
the brief fictional story Brown writes about, Clotel helps to
further the importance of the slave narrative. Although fictional,
Clotel’s story is no less important, for through her story, an
understanding of how corrupt and exploited this system was
prevails. Clotel, one of the main characters of Brown’s story
Clotel: Or, The President’s Daughter’, is born of a mixed
relationship between an African American woman, Currer, and
her master, Thomas Jefferson. Clotel, with a few drops of her
mother’s blood, is unable to escape the abuse of the slavery
system for many years, regardless of her father’s standing. She
loses her mother and sister, her daughter is forcefully taken from
her, and she is unable to stop it at all. Until she is offered the
opportunity to escape through disguise, she escapes from
Vicksburg, Mississippi, as far as Cincinnati. However, she
returned to Richmond, Virginia, in search of her daughter, only
to be arrested and sent away for the last time. Clotel, like
Brown’s, escapes one last time but is chased and cornered on
Long Bridge. Nevertheless, she jumps, preferring death to
slavery.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/brown/menu.html
Bibliography
Brown, Williams Well. Clotel, OR, The President’s Daughter.New York, The Modern
Library, 2000 edition.
Studies in African American Literature
The Slave Narrative of Brown’s Escape
William Wells Brown: The Importance of the Slave Narrative
William Wells Brown wrote his own autobiography, retelling his
life through the slave narrative that displays the losses and
triumphs he experienced. During his period as an enslaved
person, Brown attempted to escape three separate times. His first
attempt was as a child, fleeing the abuse he suffered, but
unfortunately he was forced to return or be killed. The second
time, Brown was older and had been working around St. Louis
on his master's steamboat. Brown tried again to leave with his
mother, traveling for nearly eleven days to obtain freedom.
However, he was caught and forced to serve again. Both times,
Brown was beaten and mistreated for seeking his freedom,
regardless of his age at either time. This did not deter him, for on
his third try, Brown finally obtained freedom with the help of
others along his journey. However, throughout each escape and
later life, Brown had to run from slave catchers continuously in
order to obtain or keep his freedom. Brown risked his reenslavement to spend two years working on a steamboat, helping
to bring other fugitives to Canada in safety he did not have. He
later married Elizabeth Spooner, a free black woman, and had
three daughters. William Wells Brown displays the horrible side
of enslavement throughout his narratives, including through his
autobiography. Thus, allowing the slave narrative to speak for
itself through his story and others that followed.
https://librivox.org/clotel-or-the-presidents-daughter-by-william-wells-brown/
Alala McDowell and Colleen McLaurin
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/william-wells-brown-wildcat-banker/
William Wells Brown
William Wells Brown was an African American male born in
Lexington, Kentucky, in 1814. At the age of 20, he was able to
escape slavery by fleeing from a steamboat on the Ohio River;
from there, he traveled across the state of Ohio to Cleveland.
Brown is well known for his many literary contributions, such
as Clotel and his biography William Wells Brown: An African
American Life. Brown is also well known as a political activist
and anti-slavery abolitionist. To help the fight against slavery,
Brown regularly attended meetings of the Western New York
anti-slavery society, where he would give many speeches.
Stemming from this, Brown would travel to other local
abolitionist gatherings to speak. William Wells Brown
impacted the 19th century and brought about change by indeed
publishing his own narrative of his life and the trials and
tribulations he endured, as well as writing and publishing
books about black history.
Clotel: A Fictional tragedy and Truth
As a well-known figure within the slave narrative, focusing on
the brief fictional story Brown writes about, Clotel helps to
further the importance of the slave narrative. Although fictional,
Clotel’s story is no less important, for through her story, an
understanding of how corrupt and exploited this system was
prevails. Clotel, one of the main characters of Brown’s story
Clotel: Or, The President’s Daughter’, is born of a mixed
relationship between an African American woman, Currer, and
her master, Thomas Jefferson. Clotel, with a few drops of her
mother’s blood, is unable to escape the abuse of the slavery
system for many years, regardless of her father’s standing. She
loses her mother and sister, her daughter is forcefully taken from
her, and she is unable to stop it at all. Until she is offered the
opportunity to escape through disguise, she escapes from
Vicksburg, Mississippi, as far as Cincinnati. However, she
returned to Richmond, Virginia, in search of her daughter, only
to be arrested and sent away for the last time. Clotel, like
Brown’s, escapes one last time but is chased and cornered on
Long Bridge. Nevertheless, she jumps, preferring death to
slavery.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/brown/menu.html
Bibliography
Brown, Williams Well. Clotel, OR, The President’s Daughter.New York, The Modern
Library, 2000 edition.