African American literature
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent.
Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a
creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in
expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities
and history. Although since 1970 African American writers, led by Toni Morrison, have earned
widespread critical acclaim, this literature has been recognized internationally as well as
nationally since its inception in the late 18th century.
Antebellum literature
African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the
18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies with a special
sense of mission. The earliest African American writers sought to demonstrate that the
proposition “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence required that Black
Americans be extended the same human rights as those claimed by white Americans. Couching a
social justice argument in the Christian gospel of the universal brotherhood of humanity,
African-born Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, dedicated her Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1773), the first published African American book, to proving that “Negros,
Black as Cain,” were not inherently inferior to whites in matters of the spirit and thus could “join
th’ angelic train” as spiritual equals to whites. Composing poems in a wide range of classical
genres, Wheatley was determined to show by her mastery of form and meter, as well as by her
pious and learned subjects, that a Black poet was as capable of artistic expression as a white
poet. Poems on Various Subjects provided a powerful argument against the proslavery
contention that the failure of African peoples to write serious literature was proof of their
intellectual inadequacies and their fitness for enslavement. The poetry and sermons of Jupiter
Hammon (1711–1806?), an enslaved man who was born in New York but later lived in
Connecticut, buttressed the demand of early African American writers for literary recognition,
though the major theme of his writing is the urgency of Christian conversion.
Olaudah Equiano
In 1789 Olaudah Equiano, Wheatley’s most famous Black literary contemporary, published
his two-volume autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A British citizen who had experienced
enslavement in the Americas, Equiano has been traditionally regarded, along with Wheatley, as
the founder of African literature in English by virtue of his having pioneered the slave narrative,
a firsthand literary testimony against slavery which, by the early 19th century, earned for African
American literature a burgeoning readership in Britain as well as in the United States. One of the
most remarkable features of Equiano’s story is his use of African origins to establish his
credibility as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. Recent research, however, has raised
questions about whether Equiano was born an Igbo (Ibo) in Africa, as he claims in his
autobiography. His baptismal record in Westminster, England, lists him on February 9, 1759, as
“Gustavus Vassa a Black born in Carolina 12 years old.” Scholars have also debated whether
Equiano’s account of Igbo life in his autobiography is based on reading rather than memory. In
the absence of scholarly consensus on these controversial matters, The Interesting Narrative
remains a pivotal text in portraying Africa as neither morally benighted nor culturally backward
but rather as a model of social harmony defiled by Euro-American greed.
In the early 19th century the standard-bearers of African American literature spoke with
heightening urgency of the need for whites to address the terrible sin of slavery. Through essays,
poetry, and fiction as well as more conventional journalism, African American newspapers,
inaugurated by Freedom’s Journal in 1827, extolled the achievements of Black people
worldwide while lobbying persistently for an end to slavery.
The prophet of literary Black Nationalism
As the prophet of literary Black Nationalism in the United States, David Walker wrote his
incendiary Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the
World (1829) to warn white America of impending racial violence if slavery were not abolished.
Echoing Walker, who was a fellow Bostonian, Maria W. Stewart, the first African American
woman political writer, issued her Productions of Mrs. Maria W. Stewart in 1835, in which she
encouraged Black women in the North to take a more outspoken role in civil rights agitation and
Black community building. A year after the publication of Stewart’s Productions, Jarena Lee, a
domestic servant impelled by a call to preach, published The Life and Religious Experience of
Jarena Lee, the first spiritual autobiography by an African American woman.
