Great Slave Narratives

by Arna Bontemps (Editor)

Three selected narratives exemplify an interesting, sometimes little-known area of American Negro history and writing

Genres: History

331 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Works of poetry, history, and fiction, such as God Sends Sunday (1931) and Black Thunder (1936), established American writer Arna Wendell Bontemps as a leading figure of the renaissance of Harlem.

People note Arnaud Wendell Bontemps, an African novelist and librarian, as a member.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arna_Bo...

Reviews

[Kimberly Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing piece of history. This book is a link to an unknown past.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. There's nothing like having a first-hand account, in the first person.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is made up of three separate stories. The editor's introduction, written in 1969, tells how slave narratives were popular reading in the nineteenth century. I had read two of the narratives in previous collections, so the only new one to me was The Fugitive Blacksmith, by a man who escaped slavery and made a good life for himself. The Life of Gustavus Vassa is the book-length story of a man abducted from Africa who had many adventures in England, the Caribbean, and the American South. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom is the story of a couple who escaped by disguising the virtually-white wife as a white man and the husband as his (her) slave. Their story was so gripping that I read the whole thing again.

Everybody in the USA should read these and/or other stories of slavery. It's a shameful part of our history. Slave owners, no matter how refined they may have seemed at the time, were barbaric in their beliefs and practices. And there's a direct progression from slavery through Jim Crow, segregation, and still-institutionalized racism, which includes our current prison system.

[Anne Calvert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Slave Narratives Selected and Introduced by Arna Bontemps was an interesting and educational book. I am ashamed to admit my ignorance on the topic of slavery and spent quality time looking up definitions and searching for more information, photos etc. to aid in my understanding of the stories. I understand this book with the three stories is just a glimpse of the many stories that have been told but it has piqued my interest and desire to learn more.

As for the stories, the first story in the book, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself, was probably my least favorite story in this book. It was very long and because most of his bondage he spent on the ocean in various ships it was sometimes difficult to keep up with it. I still learned from it, but it took me quite some time to read. The last two stories kept my interest and I read through them quickly. The next story, The Fugitive Blacksmith; or Events in the History of James W.C. Pennington, Pastor of a Presbyterian Church, New York, Formerly a Slave in the State of Maryland, was good. It kept me in suspense and interested. The last story was my favorite. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery, was about a clever and creative husband and wife that made it to freedom. It was very detailed about their feelings and having to encourage one another. I will not go into detail of the story so as not to spoil it. Beautiful story.

I want to share here a couple lines from the story The Fugitive Blacksmith that made an impression, and saddened my heart. "On looking at the family record of his old, kind, Christian master, there he finds his name on a catalogue with the horses, cows, hogs, and dogs. However humiliating and degrading it may be to his feelings to find his name written down among the beasts of the field, that is just the place, and the only place assigned to it by the chattel relation." They were not even considered people.

I cannot say I enjoyed the topic per se, however I enjoyed the storytelling and the opportunity to an education on a topic of which I am ignorant. I would recommend others read this book. I do encourage the reader to not get stalled as I did on the first story. Do not get discouraged and stop reading the book, the last two stories are well worth the read.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best account was the story of Ellen and William Craft, a black woman desguised as an invalid white man accompanied by "his slave," who was in fact her husband. Gripping story. Clearly illustrates the greed at the root of slavery.