Recollections of Slavery

Born a slave near Charleston, South Carolina, the narrator tells a story of the treatment of slaves on a plantation. He was owned by a strict mistress and hired out to other masters. He was forced to work from a young age and his tale is one of relentless cruelty towards slaves, both men and women, adults and children. He tells of seeing a runaway slave shot, but nevertheless tries to escape several times. Eventually he succeeds, through the help of a ship steward whose name he doesn't know and who refuses to take any money, and makes his way north. The writer concludes with evidence that the narrative is true and he describes the transformation of the man upon becoming free, as testimony that no man should own another and that this man's story should be told to others.