"Life and Adventures of James Williams, a Fugitive Slave" is a 1873 account by American slave James Williams, describing his early life, abuse, and eventual escape to New York City. The first slave narrative published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, today the story is commonly remembered as fraudulent due to contemporary Southern newspaper columnists' attacks on the narrative's veracity. The book was ghostwritten by John Greenleaf Whittier, a Quaker poet and abolitionist. Contents include: "An Introductory Excerpt by W. Mckinstry", "Preface", "When and Where Born", "Why I Ran Away", "First Contact with the Underground Railroad", "In the Riot Against the Killers", "Escape from Pursuers", "Raffling for Geese, and What Came of it", "Making Coffee out of Salt Water", etc. A powerful account of life as an African-American slave that will appeal to those interested in black history and literature. Read & Co. History is proudly republishing this classic slave narrative now in a brand new edition, complete with an introductory excerpt by W. Mckinstry.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

This powerful memoir recounts the experiences of James Williams, a former slave who escaped to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Williams's story is a testament to the bravery and resilience of those who fought against slavery and oppression in the United States. A must-read for anyone interested in African American history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from Life and Adventures of James Williams, a Fugitive Slave: With a Full Description of the Underground Railroad The Author, thinking an account of his life and experience would be of service to persons into whose hands it might fall, has, by the advice of some of his friends, come to the con clusion to narrate, as correctly as possible, things that he encountered and that came under his notice during a period of some forty-five years. He hopes, after a perusal of his first attempt, the reader will pardon him for any errors which may have been Committed and if I can only think that any good may have grown out of my adventures, i shall then consider that I have commenced to answer the end I and all human beings were created for - having lived that the world may be bettered by me. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1873.

My name is James Williams. I was born in 1825 in Elkton, Maryland. My mother was a slave, so I was a slave. I was born in the house of William Hollingsworth, my master. When I was ten years old I was a house-boy. I had to stand at the table and brush off the flies while the guests were dining. My master and others would be talking about the slaves and what they could get for them. One of the en turned his head and said, “Tom, you must never run away. Bad boys are the only ones that run away. When their master gets them he will sell them to Georgia where they will bore holes in your ears and plow you like a horse.” They said this to scare me, thinking I would believe them. Seeing the difference between freedom and slavery, I made up my mind that when I was old enough I would run away. Read this true story of how James Williams escaped from slavery alone, when he was just a boy of thirteen. Ages 7 to 10. Educational Versions include exercises designed to meet Common Core standards. LearningIsland.com believes in the value of children practicing reading for 15 minutes every day. Our 15-Minute Books give children lots of fun, exciting choices to read, from classic stories, to mysteries, to books of knowledge. Many books are appropriate for hi-lo readers. Open the world of reading to a child by having them read for 15 minutes a day.

Fugitive slaves were reported in the American colonies as early as the 1640s, and escapes escalated with the growth of slavery over the next 200 years. As the number of fugitives rose, the Southern states pressed for harsher legislation to prevent escapes. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 criminalized any assistance, active or passive, to a runaway slave--yet it only encouraged the behavior it sought to prevent. Friends of the fugitive, whose previous assistance to runaways had been somewhat haphazard, increased their efforts at organization. By the onset of the Civil War in 1861, the Underground Railroad included members, defined stops, set escape routes and a code language. From the abolitionist movement to the Zionville Baptist Missionary Church, this encyclopedia focuses on the people, ideas, events and places associated with the interrelated histories of fugitive slaves, the African American struggle for equality and the American antislavery movement. Information is drawn from primary sources such as public records, document collections, slave autobiographies and antebellum newspapers.