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

by William L. Andrews (Editor)

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.

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The autobiographies of former slaves contributed powerfully to the abolitionist movement in the United States, fanning national--and 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.
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Genres: History

296 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2003

About the author

William Leake Andrews (1948-) is an American Professor Emeritus of English at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a scholar of early African-American literature. Wikipedia

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read some of these particular narratives before, and they continue to strike notes of compassion and outrage. The stories of these enslaved people illustrate the the cruelties, indignities, and dehumanization that Americans inflicted on black people just a century and a half ago. We have never made significant efforts toward reparations and, in fact, have replaced slavery with other indignities. And large numbers of white people are nostalgic for the Old South - deplorable! These stories and others like them should be required reading in all schools.

The introductions (to the book and each story) trace the history of the slave narrative, its place in the abolitionist movement, and its later continuing popularity as a tearjerker genre. Interesting.

[Jessi Waugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little wordy in the initial analysis for each, but a good selection to show the variety of stories that came from this time and place.

[Benjamin Thomas Sutpen]

http://sensemania.blogspot.com/2007/0...