The Heroic Slave (1852) is a novella by Frederick Douglass. Although he is more frequently recognized as prominent orator and autobiographer who spearheaded the American abolitionist movement, Douglass published one work of fiction in his lifetime. Inspired by the 1841 Creole case, in which an enslaved cook and a crew of nineteen fellow-slaves led a rebellion onboard a ship bound from Virginia to New Orleans, The Heroic Slave seeks to highlight the bravery and autonomy of fugitives and revolutionaries who did what they could to help themselves in the absence of help from their country. Sitting down for dinner, Mr. Listwell, a white southerner, is interrupted by a knock at the door. He opens it to find Madison Washington, a fugitive slave who disappeared without a trace five years prior. Hesitant at first, Listwell agrees to hear the man out, and learns that rather than escape to the north, Washington remained behind to be near his wife and children, hiding in the wilderness the whole time. Moved by his tragic story, Listwell provides him clothes and supplies, and encourages him to head for Canada. Sometime later, he sees a slave gang headed for market, and identifies Washington in chains. Before they part ways once more, perhaps forever, Listwell purchases a set of files and manages to get them to Washington, who remains determined to fight for his freedom until the bitter end. This edition of Frederick Douglass’ The Heroic Slave is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.
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About the author
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an African American abolitionist, writer, statesman, and social reformer. Born in Maryland, he escaped slavery at the age of twenty with the help of his future wife Anna Murray Douglass, a free black woman from Baltimore. He made his way through Delaware, Philadelphia, and New York City—where he married Murray—before settling in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In New England, he connected with the influential abolitionist community and joined the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a historically Black denomination which counted Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman among its members. In 1839, Douglass became a preacher and began his career as a captivating orator on religious, social, and political matters. He met William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator, in 1841, and was deeply moved by his passionate abolitionism. As Douglass’ reputation and influence grew, he traveled across the country and eventually to Ireland and Great Britain to advocate on behalf of the American abolitionist movement, winning countless people over to the leading moral cause of the nineteenth century. He was often accosted during his speeches and was badly beaten at least once by a violent mob. His autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) was an immediate bestseller that detailed Douglass’ life in and escape from slavery, providing readers a firsthand description of the cruelties of the southern plantation system. Towards the end of his life, he became a fierce advocate for women’s rights and was the first Black man to be nominated for Vice President on the Equal Rights Party ticket, alongside Presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull. Arguably one of the most influential Americans of all time, Douglass led a life dedicated to democracy and racial equality.
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