Editorial Advisory Board x
Preface xi
Introduction xvi
Principles of Selection and Editorial Procedures xix
Acknowledgments xxi
Part 1 The Literatures of Africa, Middle Passage, and Slavery: c.1746-1830 1
Introduction 3
Lucy Terry (c.1730-1821) 7
Bars Fight (1746) 8
Briton Hammon (dates unknown) 9
Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprizing Deliverance of Briton Hammon, a Negro Man (1760) 10
Phillis Wheatley (c.1753-1784) 15
From Poems on Various Subjects (1773) 17
To Maecenas 17
To the University of Cambridge, in New England 18
On Being Brought from Africa to America 19
On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell. 1769 20
On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. 1770 21
On the Death of a Young Lady of Five Years of Age 22
On Recollection 23
On Imagination 25
To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for
North-America, &c. 26
To S.M., a Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works 27
A Farewell to America to Mrs. S.W. 28
Jupiter Hammon (1711-c.1806) 31
An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatly, Ethiopian Poetess, in Boston, Who Came from Africa at Eight Years of Age, and Soon Became Acquainted with the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1778) 32
John Marrant (1755-1791) 35
A Narrative of the Lord's Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant, a Black (1785) 36
Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) 49
Extracts from Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself (1789, 1791) 51
Chapter 1. The Author's Account of His Country, Their Manners and Customs, &c. 51
Chapter 2. The Author's Birth and Parentage - His Being Kidnapped with His Sister - Horrors of a Slave Ship 60
Chapter 3. The Author Is Carried to Virginia - Arrives in England - His Wonder at a Fall of Snow 69
Chapter 4. A Particular Account of the Celebrated Engagement between Admiral Boscawen and Monsieur Le Clue 78
Chapter 5. Various Interesting Instances of Oppression, Cruelty, and Extortion 89
Chapter 10. Some Account of the Manner of the Author's Conversion to the Faith of Jesus Christ 99
Chapter 12. Different Transactions of the Author's Life - Petition to the Queen - Conclusion 109
David Walker (c.1785-1830) 119
Extracts from Appeal in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular and Very Expressly, to Those of the United States of America (1829) 120
Article 1. Our Wretchedness in Consequence of Slavery 120
Article 2. Our Wretchedness in Consequence of Ignorance 127
Part 2 The Literatures of Slavery and Freedom: c.1830-1865 137
Introduction 139
Omar ibn Said (1770-1864) 143
Autobiography of Omar ibn Said, Slave in North Carolina (1831) 144
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) 147
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself. (1845) 149
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? (1852) 210
William Wells Brown (1814-1884) 221
Narrative of William Wells Brown, an American Slave. Written by Himself. (1847, 1850) 223
The Escape; or, a Leap for Freedom: A Drama in Five Acts (1858) 263
Martin Robison Delany (1812-1885) 299
Extracts from The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the
United States (1852) 300
Chapter 1. Condition of Many Classes in Europe Considered 300
Chapter 2. Comparative Condition of the Colored People of the United States 301
Chapter 3. American Colonization 308
Chapter 4. Our Elevation in the United States 311
Chapter 5. Means of Elevation 313
Chapter 6. The United States Our Country 316
Chapter 17. Emigration of the Colored People of the United States 317
Chapter 23. A Glance at Ourselves - Conclusion 317
Harriet E. Adams Wilson (1825-1900) 323
Our Nig; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (1859) 324
Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813-1897) 365
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Written by Herself. (1861) 367
Part 3 The Literatures of Reconstruction, Racial Uplift, and the New Negro: c.1865-1920 491
Introduction 493
Frank J. Webb (1828-1894) 497
Two Wolves and a Lamb (1870) 498
Marvin Hayle (1870) 524
Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins (1859-1930) 548
Peculiar Sam, or the Underground Railroad: A Musical Drama in Four Acts (1879) 550
Charles Waddell Chesnutt (1858-1932) 565
What Is a White Man? (1889) 567
The Marrow of Tradition (1901) 573
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) 718
From Sketches of Southern Life (1891) 720
Aunt Chloe 720
The Deliverance 722
Aunt Chloe's Politics 729
Learning to Read 729
Church Building 731
The Reunion 731
Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted (1892) 733
Anna Julia Cooper (1858-1964) 852
Extract from A Voice from the South (1892) 853
Womanhood: A Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress of a Race 853
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) 867
From Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896) 869
The Poet and His Song 869
Accountability 870
Frederick Douglass 871
A Prayer 872
Passion and Love 873
An Ante-Bellum Sermon 873
Ode to Ethiopia 876
Whittier 877
A Banjo Song 877
To Louise 879
Alice 880
After the Quarrel 880
Beyond the Years 881
The Spellin'-Bee 882
A Negro Love Song 884
The Colored Soldiers 885
Nature and Art 887
When De Co'n Pone's Hot 888
The Deserted Plantation 889
We Wear the Mask 890
Phyllis 891
When Malindy Sings 891
Extract from The Heart of Happy Hollow (1904) 893
The Lynching of Jube Benson 893
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) 899
Extract from Up from Slavery (1901) 901
Chapter 14. The Atlanta Exposition Address 901
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) 909
The Souls of Black Folk (1903) 912
James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) 1026
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912, 1927) 1028
Glossary 1102
Timeline 1110
Name Index 1121
Subject Index 1126
