William W. Brown

A detailed Summary of William W. Brown

William Wells Brown was the first black novelist. He was also a Negro reformer and historian. According to who you talk to, his birth varies from 1814,1815, and 1816. Brown was born in Lexington Kentucky. His mother was a slave and his father is said to be one George Higgins, a white slaveholder. As a youth, Brown worked on steamships, but was later employed in a print-shop owned by Elijah P. Lovejoy, then editor of the St Louis Times. Working in this capacity, Brown got his start in education. Soon he was returned back to working on steamboats. In 1834, he escaped into Ohio, intending to cross Lake Eire into Canada. On the way he was sheltered by a Quaker, Wells Brown, whose name he assumed in addition to the name William. He now took up steamboating on Lake Erie and obtained the position of steward in which he was able to help many a fugitive to freedom. In the year of his escape, he married a former slave who was now free and had two daughters.

Profiting from school instruction and help from friends, he acquired considerable knowledge of the fundamentals of English. In the North he soon learned to speak the English language so fluently that he could easily present the claim of the Negro for freedom. Du

William Wells Brown was much more than just the first black novelist. Brown's fight for anti-slavery was not the only thing he stood for. He made stands against temperance, woman's suffrage and prison reform. He was associated with the most ardent abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips. He was a man that beat the odds and stood his ground for something he believed in. His works although may be controversial, was direct and to the point. He made people think and realize that no one, regardless of race should be hypocritical to what he or she says or does. Brown received a lot of controversial feedback for not knowing all the facts, not knowing any personal relatives of Jefferson, and the chronological inconsistencies in his story. The anachronisms in Brown's Clotel, or the President's Daughter, detracted nothing from his portrayal of American slavery as he had come to know it. Presumably, therefore, they were from his point of view and from how he felt about things. Yes, William Wells Brown is much more than just the first black novelist.

ring 1843-49, he was variously employed as a lecturer of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society, and the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. In 1849, he visited England and represented the American Peace Society at the Peace Congress in Paris. Highly recommended by the American Anti-Slavery Society as an apostle of freedom, he was welcomed by famous Europeans such as Victor Hugo, James Haughton, George Thompson, and Richard Cobden. He remained abroad until 1854. During these years of

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Category: People