Frederick Douglass, The Heroic Slave

Patrick Chura (University of Akron)

Ed. by Patrick Chura, University of Akron
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1853

Places

United States (Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Novella

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Recommended Reading

In the decade following the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, abolitionist essays, pamphlets and novels were a major trend in American literature, with Harriet Beecher Stowe’s

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

leading the way in terms of popular success. A lesser known work, but one that has emerged as an essential text in the nineteenth century canon, is Frederick Douglass’s 1853 novella,

The Heroic Slave

. One of the earliest examples of African-American fiction (William Wells Brown’s novel

Clotel

was published the same year),

The Heroic Slave

recounts an 1841 mutiny aboard the slave ship

Creole

while painting a compelling portrait of the rebellion’s leader, Madison Washington. Written with passion and social insight, Douglass’s narrative is at once a valuable artifact, a cogent plea for…

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3085 words

Citation: Chura, Patrick. "The Heroic Slave". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 April 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39083, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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Frederick Douglass, The Heroic Slave

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