North Carolina Slave Narratives - (The John Hope Franklin African American History and Culture) (Paperback)

About the Book

North Carolina Slave Narratives: The Lives of Moses Roper, Lunsford Lane, Moses Grandy, and Thomas H. Jones

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"For those who want to get some idea of what slavery in the South was like before the Civil War, this is the book. . . . a compelling and hugely informative view of a time and an ethos that we can never forget."--Kliatt

"A fascinating collection of narratives."--Forecast

"From [the four narratives], students of North Carolina history can discover much about the diversity of slaves' experiences in the state, especially as related to literacy, manhood, masters, resistance, sympathizers, family, work, and religion."--Journal of Southern History

About the Author

General editor William L. Andrews is E. Maynard Adams Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is author or editor of more than thirty books, including The Literary Career of Charles W. Chesnutt and To Tell a Free Story: The First Century of Afro-American Autobiography, 1760-1865. Coeditors David A. Davis, Tampathia Evans, Ian Frederick Finseth, and Andreá N. Williams have earned graduate degrees in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.