The Black Man

<p>The Black Man: His Antecedents His Genius and His Achievements is a book published in 1863 by William Wells Brown which sketches the lives of individuals Brown determined had by their own genius capacity and intellectual development surmounted the many obstacles which slavery and prejudice have thrown in their way and raised themselves to positions of honor and influence. </p><p></p><p><strong>About the author</strong></p><p></p><p>William Wells Brown (November 6 1814 - November 6 1884) was an American abolitionist novelist playwright and historian. Born into slavery near Mount Sterling Kentucky Brown escaped to Ohio in 1834 at the age of 19. He settled in Boston Massachusetts where he worked for abolitionist causes and became a prolific writer. While working for abolition Brown also supported causes including: temperance women's suffrage pacifism prison reform and an anti-tobacco movement. His novel Clotel (1853) considered the first novel written by an African American was published in London England where he resided at the time. It was later published in the United States.</p><p></p><p>Brown was a pioneer in several different literary genres including travel writing fiction and drama. In 1858 he became the first published African-American playwright and often read from this work on the lecture circuit. Following the Civil War in 1867 he published what is considered the first history of African Americans in the Revolutionary War. He was among the first writers inducted to the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame established in 2013. A public school was named for him in Lexington Kentucky.</p><p></p><p>Brown was lecturing in England when the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law was passed in the US. As its provisions increased the risk of his capture and re-enslavement even in northern states he stayed overseas for several years. He traveled throughout Europe. After his freedom was purchased in 1854 by a British couple he and his two daughters returned to the US where he rejoined the abolitionist lecture circuit in the North. A contemporary of Frederick Douglass Brown was overshadowed by the charismatic orator and the two feuded publicly. (wikipedia.org)</p><p></p>