Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave: Annotated Edition
By Hank Trent
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The American Anti-Slavery Society originally published Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave in 1838 to much fanfare, describing it as a rare slave autobiography. Soon thereafter, however, southerners challenged the authenticity of the work and the society retracted it. Abolitionists at the time were unable to defend the book; and, until now, historians could not verify Williams's identity or find the Alabama slave owners he named in the book. As a result, most scholars characterized the author as a fraud, perhaps never even a slave, or at least not under the circumstances described in the book.
In this annotated edition of Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave, Hank Trent provides newly discovered biographical information about the true author of the book -- an African American man enslaved in Alabama and Virginia. Trent identifies Williams's owners in those states as well as in Maryland and Louisiana. He explains how Williams escaped from slavery and then altered his life story to throw investigators off his track. Through meticulous and extensive research, Trent also reveals unknown details of James Williams's real life, drawing upon runaway ads, court cases, census records, and estate inventories never before linked to him or to the narrative. In the end, Trent proves that the author of the book was truly an enslaved man, albeit one who wrote a romanticized, fictionalized story based on his real life, which proved even more complex and remarkable than the story he told.
Related to Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave
Related ebooks
Fifty Years in Chains Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Freedom by Any Means: Con Games, Voodoo Schemes, True Love and Lawsuits on the Underground Railroad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Growing Up in Slavery: Stories of Young Slaves as Told By Themselves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rope: A True Story of Murder, Heroism, and the Dawn of the NAACP Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alabama Scoundrels: Outlaws, Pirates, Bandits & Bushwhackers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Backwoods Tales: Paddy McGann, Sharp Snaffles, and Bill Bauldy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom That Terrible Field: Civil War Letters of James M. Williams, 21st Alabama Infantry Volunteers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRunning A Thousand Miles For Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Spy Called James: The True Story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War Double Agent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wyatt Earp: A Vigilante Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Narrative of William W. Brown: A Fugitive Slave Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eerie Alabama: Chilling Tales from the Heart of Dixie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing of the Lobby: The Life and Times of Sam Ward, Man-About-Washington in the Gilded Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: Or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Clotelle: A Tale of the Southern States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWayward Son: Lineage Series, Book Four: Lineage, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRunning a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery. Illustrated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wigwam and the Cabin: The Arkansas Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Partisan: A Romance of Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Scandalous Lives of Carolina Belles Marie Boozer and Amelia Feaster: Flirting with the Enemy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRefugees from Slavery: Autobiographies of Fugitive Slaves in Canada Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWicked Columbus, Ohio Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHauntings of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Shilling on Good Friday Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Outlet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen Owing a Shilling Costs a Dollar: The Saga of Lewis G. Clarke, Born a “White” Slave Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Midas of Manumission: The Orphan Samuel Gist and his Virginian Slaves Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Social Science For You
All About Love: New Visions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Come As You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dumbing Us Down - 25th Anniversary Edition: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Witty Banter: Be Clever, Quick, & Magnetic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Men Explain Things to Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Close Encounters with Addiction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Human Condition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fervent: A Woman's Battle Plan to Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Secret Garden: Women's Sexual Fantasies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah's Book Club Selection) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Women Don't Owe You Pretty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave
0 ratings0 reviews