Synopses & Reviews
From the earliest published work in 1761 through the Civil War years, this informative anthology provides a valuable overview of Black literature during the period. Varying in background and skill, from self-taught slave to college-trained professor, the writers of this collection were among the most important early shapers of Black American culture: Banneker, Douglass, Delany, many others.
Synopsis
Everyone is familiar with the rhetoric of reform and humanism, written by whites, which did much to inflame the nation to the point of civil war. Who spoke for the black man during this crucial period of his history? How did he see the issues which bore so directly on himself and his race -- present and future? How did he feel about them?
In this anthology, the black man speaks for himself. Beginning with the earliest published work of a black American, selections in this volume cover the period from 1761 through the Civil War years. Varying greatly in education and technical skill, from self-taught slave to college-trained scholar, the writers in this collection did much to shape the developing culture of black America. Professor Brawley prefaces each selection with a biographical account of its author, and with sympathetic but objective critical analysis of the work presented. His introduction gives a valuable overview of black literature in this early period, telling the reader who black writers were and describing the issues -- political, social, and moral -- that concerned them.
Included are selections from the work of Jupiter Hammon, Gustavus Vassa, Phillis Wheatley, W. W. Brown, F. E. W. Harper, and many others as yet less known. Whether writing about religion, slavery, military service, voting rights, or the colonization of Liberia, these writers merit attention on both artistic and historical grounds. Brawley's historical and literary insights guide readers to a full appreciation of these works. A lamentable gap in knowledge of the black experience is filled by this anthology; it should be read by all students of history and literature.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..
JUPITER HAMMON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ. . . . . . . . . .. A Dialogue Intitled The Kind Master and the Dutiful Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
PHILLIS WHEATLEY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. To the University of Cambridge, in New England. . ..
On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. . . ..
To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth,
His Majesty's Secretary of State for North America
An Hymn to the Morning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. An Hymn to the Evening. ........ ... . . . . . . .. On Imagination ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Niobe in Distress for her Children Slain by Apollo. . . ..
To S. M., a Young African Painter, on Seeing his Works
His Excellency General Washington. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Liberty and Peace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ........ . .. GUSTAVUS YASSA ........................... The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Oloudah
Equiano, or Gustavus Yassa (selection) .
BENJAMIN BANNEKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Letter to the Secretary of State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. A Plan of Peace-Office for the United States. . . . . .
RICHARD ALLEN AND ABSALOM JONES. . . . . . . . . . . A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People during the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia (selections) PRINCE HALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Charge Delivered to the African Lodge at Menotomy, Mass. . ........
PETER WILLIAMS ............................... A Discourse Delivered on the Death of Captain Paul Cuffe ............................... GEORGE M. HORTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. On Liberty and Slavery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. The Slave's Complaint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. On Hearing of the Intention of a Gentleman to Purchase the Poet's Freedom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. On Spring .................................. Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. On the Truth of the Saviour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. George Moses Horton, Myself .................... DAVID WALKER ................................ Appeal (selections) ............................ DANIEL A. PAYNE ............................... The Mournful Lute, or The Preceptor's Farewell .... Poem Composed for the Soiree of the Vigilant Committee of Philadelphia ................... JOSIAH HENSON .................................
Truth Stranger than Fiction (selection) ............ WILLIAM WELLS BROWN .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Visit of a Fugitive Slave to the Grave of Wilberforce. .. FREDERICK DOUGLASS .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. My Bondage and my Freedom (selections) .......... American Slavery (selection).................... What the Black Man Wants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. MARTIN R. DELANY .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States, Politically Considered (selections) .....................
JAMES M. WHITFIELD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. America .................................... How Long? ................................. Prayer of the Oppressed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. The Misanthropist ............................ Lines on the Death of John Quincy Adams. . . . . . . . .. The North Star ..............................
CHARLES L. REASON
Freedom .....
The Spirit Voice. GEORGE B. VASHON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Vincent Oge ............................... A Life-Day ................................. JAMES MADISON BELL ............................ The Day and the War (selection) ................ Emancipation in the District of Columbia. . . . . . . . . . ..
FRANCES E. W. HARPER ......................... . Bury Me in a Free Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Ethiopia .................................... Vashti. . . . . . . . ........................... President Lincoln's Proclamation of Freedom. . . . . . .. Fifteenth Amendment ......................... ALEXANDER CRUMMELL ..........................
Hope for Africa (selection) ......................