Booker T. Washington
1901 · Virginia, USA · Alabama
I was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. I am not quite sure of the exact place or exact date of my birth, but at any rate I suspect I must have been born somewhere and at some time.
Up from Slavery, the opening
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In the same thread
Frederick Douglass
1845 · United States · He goes on: most slaves knew as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and their masters wished to keep them so
I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, chapter 1
Harriet Jacobs
1861 · North Carolina, USA
I was born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the first sentence
Solomon Northup
1853 · New York, USA · Louisiana
Having been born a freeman, and for more than thirty years enjoyed the blessings of liberty in a free State—and having at the end of that time been kidnapped and sold into Slavery, where I remained, until happily rescued in the month of January, 1853, after a bondage of twelve years—it has been suggested that an account of my life and fortunes would not be uninteresting to the public.
Twelve Years a Slave, the first sentence
Harriet Jacobs
1861 · North Carolina, USA · On how her heart grew heavier when she was told her new-born baby was a girl
Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, chapter 14
1 in 100 Billion · The social network of those who came before us