Vincent Carretta - Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the Eighteenth Century

UNCHAINED VOICES

AN ANTHOLOGY
OF BLACK AUTHORS
IN THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD
OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

EXPANDED EDITION

Vincent Carretta

EDITOR

THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY

Copyright 1996, 2004 by The University Press of Kentucky

Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre
College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College,
Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University,
Morehead State University, Murray State University,
Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University,
University of Kentucky, University of Louisville,
and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.

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663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
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09 10 11 5 4 3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Unchained voices : an anthology of Black authors in the English-speaking world of the eighteenth century / Vincent Carretta, editor.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-10: 0-8131-9076-2 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. English literatureBlack authors. 2. BlacksEnglish-speaking countriesHistory18th centurySources. 3. BlacksEnglish-speaking countriesLiterary collections. 4. BlacksGreat BritainHistory18th centurySources. 5. English literatureEnglish speaking countries. 6. Afro-AmericansHistory18th centurySources. 7. BlacksGreat BritainLiterary collections. 8. American literatureAfro-American authors. 9. Afro-AmericansLiterary collections. 10. English literature18th century.

I. Carretta, Vincent

PR9085.U55 1996

820.8089609033dc20

96-1019

ISBN-13: 978-0-8131-9076-1 (pbk.: alk paper)

This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials.

Manufactured in the United States of America

For
Pat, Nat, Maude,
and the Guys on the Porch

NARRATIVE of the UNCOMMON SUFFERINGS, AND Surprizing DELIVERANCE
OF Briton Hammon, A Negro Man
(Boston, 1760)

Poems: AN Evening THOUGHT
(New York, 1760)

AN ADDRESS to Miss PHILLIS WHEATLY, Ethiopian Poetess
(Hartford, 1778)

A NARRATIVE OF THE Most Remarkable Particulars in the LIFE of James Albert
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, An AFRICAN PRINCE, As related by HIMSELF
(Bath, 1772)

Poems: AN ELEGIAC POEM, ON THE DEATH OFGEORGE WHITEFIELD
(Boston, 1770)

POEMS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, RELIGIOUS AND MORAL
(London, 1773) [selections]
To His Excellency General Washington
(Providence, 1775)

An Ode
(London, 1774)

LETTERS OF THE LATE IGNATIUS SANCHO, AN AFRICAN. IN TWO VOLUMES.
TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED, MEMOIRS OF HIS LIFE
(London, 1782) [selections]

A NARRATIVE OF THE LORDs wonderful DEALINGS WITH
JOHN MARRANT, A BLACK
(London, 1785)

The Life and Confession of JOHNSON GREEN, Who Is to Be Executed this day,
August 17th, 1786, for the Atrocious Crime of BURGLARY; Together with
His LAST and DYING WORDS
(Worcester, Massachusetts, 1786)

Petition of an African Slave, to the Legislature of Massachusetts (1782),
from The American Museum, or Repository of Ancient and Modern Fugitive Pieces,
Prose and Poetical. For June 1787
(Philadelphia, 1787)

THOUGHTS AND SENTIMENTS ON THE EVIL AND WICKED TRAFFIC OF
THE SLAVERY AND COMMERCE OF THE HUMAN SPECIES, HUMBLY
SUBMITTED TO THE INHABITANTS OF GREAT-BRITAIN, BY OTTOBAH
CUGOANO, A NATIVE OF AFRICA
(London, 1787) [abridged]

THE INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF OLAUDAH EQUIANO,
OR GUSTAVUS VASSA, THE AFRICAN. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
(London, 1789; ninth edition, 1794) [abridged]

COPY OF A LETTER FROM BENJAMIN BANNEKER TO THE
SECRETARY OF STATE, WITH HIS ANSWER
(Philadelphia, 1792)

AN ACCOUNT of several Baptist Churches, consisting chiefly of NEGRO SLAVES:
particularly of one at Kingston, in JAMAICA; and another at Savannah in GEORGIA
(London, 1793)

An Account of the Life of Mr. DAVID GEORGE, from Sierra Leone in Africa;
given by himself in a Conversation with Brother RIPPON of London,
and Brother PEARCE of Birmingham
(London, 1793-1797)

MEMOIRS of the LIFE of BOSTON KING, a Black Preacher. Written by Himself,
during his Residence at Kingswood-School
(London, 1798)

A NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF VENTURE,
A NATIVE OF AFRICA: But resident above sixty years in the United States of America.
RELATED BY HIMSELF
(New London, Conn., 1798)

My greatest debts are to the staffs and collections of the following institutions: in the United Kingdom: the British Library; the British Museum; the Public Record Offices (PRO) in Kew and London; Dr. Williamss Library in London; the Library of the Society of Friends House, London; the Greater London Record Office; the City of Westminster Archives Centre; the Guildhall Library of the City of London; the Islington Local History Collection; the Goldsmiths Library of the University of London Library; the Cambridgeshire County Record Office; and the University of Glasgow Library; in the United States: the McKeldin Library of the University of Maryland; the John Carter Brown Library; the Folger Shakespeare Library; the Van Pelt Library of the University of Pennsylvania; the Morris Library of the University of Delaware; the Connecticut College Library; the Boston Public Library; the American Antiquarian Society, and the Library of Congress.

Generous support from the University of Maryland, in the forms of a sabbatical leave and an award from the Committee on Africa and the Americas, enabled me to conduct research on both sides of the Atlantic. For help in the preparation for publication of some of the texts I thank Carol L. Warrington and her staff at the Computer Science Center at the University of Maryland.

The complete text of Equianos Interesting Narrative appears in the Penguin edition of Olaudah Equianos The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings (New York: Penguin USA, 1995). I thank Penguin USA and the University Press of Kentucky for giving me permission to reproduce approximately two thirds of the Penguin text, some of its notes, and part of its Introduction in Unchained Voices.

I am also very grateful to Seymour Drescher and William L. Andrews, readers for the University Press of Kentucky, for their comments and suggestions.