Chains and Freedom: Or, The Life and Adventures of Peter Wheeler, A Colored Man Yet Living. A Slave in Chains, A Sailor on the Deep, and A Sinner at the Cross

A rare and essential slave narrative that includes accounts of slavery in New Jersey and New York

Slavery narratives of freedmen played an essential part in swinging antebellum American opinion against slavery. Personal accounts of American slaves demolished the claims of slave-owners that the institution was humane and beneficial to its victims. They also added appeals to the principles of religion, making a powerful argument against the toleration of a system of human bondage.

What makes...