1. Oloudah Equiano
Considered the first influential slave narrative, Equiano published The Interesting Narrative: The Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself in 1789.
Readers—mostly abolitionists—were astonished by the imagery and detailed accounts that Equiano included in his narrative. For the budding abolitionist movement, the text provided insight into the suffering enslaved Africans endured at the hands of their owners.
Not only did the narrative go through several editions and help advance the abolitionist cause, it allowed Equiano to provide financial support to Sierra Leone as well as the growing African community in England. More »
2. Frederick Douglass
As the abolitionist movement continued gain momentum in the 1840s, Frederick Douglass emerged as one of the movement’s most prominent speakers. Travelling throughout the country with abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass was instructed to only convey the facts of his experience as a slave but never use speaking as a moment to persuade listeners about its horrors. Disatisfied with this way of speaking, Douglass wrote his first autobiography, Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself. More »
3. Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth began her career as a preacher in 1843 when she was “called in spirit.” While spreading the Christian gospel, Truth met abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. Within three years, Truth was on the abolitionist circuit—working to end enslavement in the United States.
That same year, Truth met fellow abolitionist Olive Gilbert. Truth wanted to write a narrative and receive the same success—financially and critically—as Douglass’ narrative. Wishing to “set her heart upon having a little home of her own” Truth began dictating her narrative to Gilbert. By 1850, the narrative was published and Truth was able to purchase a home. More »
4. Solomon Northup
In March of 1841, Solomon Northup, a musician, was kidnapped and sold into enslavement. For twelve years, Northup was forced to live a life as a slave in Louisiana.
Twelve years later in 1853, after befriending a traveling carpenter, Northup was saved from enslavement. Once reunited with his family, Northup began writing his narrative, 12 Years a Slave.
Although the text received critical acclaim and commercial success, it was also criticized by many who believed that it was not authentic because Northup wrote it with the help of David Wright, a white abolitionist and scribe.
Nevertheless, historian Sam Worley argues that 12 Years a Slave is “convincingly Northup’s tale and no one else’s because of its amazing attention to empirical detail and unwillingness to reduce the complexity of Northup’s experience to a stark moral allegory.”
In addition, Northup’s narrative shed light on not only the treatment of African-American enslavement, but the sexual subjugation of African-American women who were enslaved through characters such as Patsey.
Following the success of the narrative, Northup continued to work in the abolitionist movement—in particular the Underground Railroad—helping runaway slaves find freedom in Canada. More »
5. Harriet Ann Jacobs
When Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was published in 1858, it exposed a new level of brutality that surprised the public: sexual abuse.
Although Jacobs had learned to read and write while enslaved, her skills were not strong enough to complete a full-length manuscript. Therefore, with the help of abolitionist Amy Post, Jacobs was able to complete the narrative.
The text was published while Jacobs lived in the home of writer and publisher Nathaniel Parker Willis. Sections of the text were published in the New York Tribune. However, the sexual abuse Jacobs endured was too shocking for readings and as a result, the newspaper did not publish the narrative completely.
Abolitionist Lydia Maria Child wrote the narrative’s introduction which included the following words, "I am well aware that many will accuse me of indecorum for presenting these pages to the public; for the experiences of this intelligent and much-injured woman belong to a class which some call delicate subjects, and others indelicate. This peculiar phase of Slavery has generally been kept veiled; but the public ought to be made acquainted with its monstrous features, and I willingly take the responsibility of presenting them with the veil withdrawn." More »