Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery

<b>A freed slave's daring assertion of the evils of slavery</b><br><br>Born in present-day Ghana Quobna Ottobah Cugoano was kidnapped at the age of thirteen and sold into slavery by his fellow Africans in 1770; he worked in the brutal plantation chain gangs of the West Indies before being freed in England. His <i>Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery</i>&#160;is the most direct criticism of slavery by a writer of African descent. Cugoano refutes pro-slavery arguments of the day including slavery's supposed divine sanction; the belief that Africans gladly sold their own families into slavery; that Africans were especially suited to its rigors; and that West Indian slaves led better lives than European serfs. Exploiting his dual identity as both an African and a British citizen Cugoano daringly asserted that all those under slavery's yoke had a moral obligation to rebel while at the same time he appealed to white England's better self.<br><br>For more than seventy years Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1700&#160;titles Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the&#160;series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors as well as up-to-date&#160;translations by award-winning translators.