Books

This collection of six complete works paints a powerful, vivid picture of life under slavery in the United States. It contains:

• Completed, unabridged texts of the six works listed below
• An active table of contents for easy navigation to any book or chapter
• The original illustrations for “Twelve Years a Slave”
• Easy-to-use links to download unabridged audiobooks of four of the works from Librivox
• Well-formatted text with adjustable font and size

Below is a brief introduction to the six included works.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

Author: Frederick Douglass (February 1818 – February 20, 1895)

Published: 1845

Audiobook available from Librivox, link included

“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a memoir and treatise on abolition written by famous orator and ex-slave, Frederick Douglass. In factual detail, the text describes the events of his life and is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States.”

The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself

Author: Josiah Henson (June 15, 1789 – May 5, 1883)

Published: 1849

“The Life of Josiah Henson is a slave narrative written by Josiah Henson, who would later become famous for being the basis of the character of Tom from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. ”

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896)

Published: 1852

Audiobook available from Librivox, link included

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe…Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible.”

Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a citizen of New-York, kidnapped in Washington city in 1841, and rescued in 1853, from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana

Author: Solomon Northup (July 1808 – c. 1864-1875)

Published: 1853

“Twelve Years a Slave, by Solomon Northup as told to David Wilson, is a memoir of a black man who was born free in New York state but kidnapped, sold into slavery and kept in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before the American Civil War.”

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Author: Harriett Ann Jacobs, under the pen name Linda Brent (February 11, 1813 – March 7, 1897)

Published: 1861

Audiobook available from Librivox, link included

“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is a slave narrative that was published in 1861 by Harriet Ann Jacobs, using the pen name “Linda Brent.” It addresses the struggles and sexual abuse that young women slaves faced on the plantations, and how these struggles were harsher than what men suffered as slaves.”

Up From Slavery

Author: Booker T. Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915)

Published: 1901

Audiobook available from Librivox, link included

“Up from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his work to rise from the position of a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools.”