AFAM lit quotes

“the two negro women, my fellow servants (one of which suffers Death with me) enticed me to get the Poyson for them, for which horrible Fact we both deserve Death; it has been contriving this two years by those two Negro women, Phillis and Phebe, Phebe confessed to me she had been given it to my Master these two years past at different times.”

Mark from Mark, The last and dying words of MARK

Phebe had Poyson in the House long before I procured her any, and used to give my Master Copperas which caused a wracking pain in his Belly, which I thought very cruel…

Mark from Mark, The last and dying words of MARK

“Now concerning the burning of my Master’s shop, I can declare I was sick in bed which Phillis can witness to..”

Mark from Mark, The last and dying words of MARK

“Let me beseech you all, my fellow-servants, (especially the women) to take warning by me, and shun those vices which have proved my ruin; and which have more grievously provoked a mild..”

Mark from Mark, The last and dying words of MARK

“she was ravished from the bosom of her country, from the arms of her friends, while the advanced age of her parents, rendering them unfit for servitude, cruelly separated her from them forever!”

Belinda from “the petition of Belinda an Affrican”

“Scenes which her imagination had never conceived of - a floating world- the sporting Monsters of the deep- and the familiar meetings of Billows and clouds, strove, but in vain to divert her melancholy attention, from three hundread Affricans in chains, suffering the most excruciating torments; and some of them rejoicing, that the pangs of death came like a balm to their wounds.”

Belinda from “the petition of Belinda an Affrican”

"The face of your Petitioner, is now marked with the furrows of time, and herframe feebly bending under the oppression of years, while she, by the Laws of theLand, is denied the enjoyment of one morsel of that immense wealth, apartwhereof hath been accumilated by her own industry, and the whole augmented byher servitude"

Belinda from “the petition of Belinda an Affrican”

"August, twas the twenty-fifth,Seventeen houndred forty-six,The Indians did in ambush lay,Some very valiant men to slayThe names of whom I'll not leave out,Samuel Allen like a hero foute,And though he was so brave and bold,His face no more shall we behold."

Lucy Terry from “Bars Fight”

"Eunice Allen see the Indians comeingAnd hoped to save herself by running:And had not her petticoats stopt her,The awful creatures had not cotched her,Not tommyhawked her on the head,And left her on the ground for dead."

Lucy Terry from “Bars Fight”

"The Way I made my Escape from theses Villians was this... so paid them TenDollars for me...

Britton Hammon from Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprizing Deliverance of Britton Hammon, a Negro man

"I endeavour'd three Times to make my Escape, the last of which provedeffectual... was obliged to go on Shore,"

Britton Hammon from Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprizing Deliverance of Britton Hammon, a Negro man

After being on Shore another Twelvemonth... and there confined,"

Britton Hammon from Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprizing Deliverance of Britton Hammon, a Negro man

"Accordingly one Sunday Night... we set Sail for Jamaica, where we arrived safe,after a short and pleasant Passage,"

Britton Hammon from Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprizing Deliverance of Britton Hammon, a Negro man

"TO THE READER... so I shall only relate Matters of Fact as they occur to myMind—"

Britton Hammon from Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprizing Deliverance of Britton Hammon, a Negro man

"And now, that in the Providence of that GOD, who delivered his ServantDavid... to the Children of Men!"

Britton Hammon from Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprizing Deliverance of Britton Hammon, a Negro man

"Salvation comes by Jesus Christ alone,The only Son of God;Redemption now to every one,That love his holy Word."

Jupiter Hammon from “An Evening Thought”

"Dear Jesus by they precious Blood,The World Redemption have:Salvation comes now from the Lord,He being thy captive Slave"

Jupiter Hammon from “an evening thought”

"O Come you pious youth! AdoreThe wisdom of thy God,In bringing three from distant shore,To learn his holy word."

Jupiter Hammon from An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley

"Thou mightst been left behind,Amidst a dark abode;God's tender mercy still combin'dThou hast the holy word."

Jupiter Hammon from “an address to Miss Phillis Wheatly”

"Come you, Phillis, now aspire,
And seek the living God,So step by step thou mayst go higher,Till perfect in the word."

Jupiter Hammon from an address to miss phillis wheatley

"For Liberty, each Freeman StrivesAs its a Gift of GodAnd for it willing yield their LivesAnd Seal it with their Blood Thrice happy they who thus resignInto the peacefull GraveMuch better there, in Death Confin'dThan a Surviving Slave This Motto may adorn their Tombs,(Let tyrants come and view)'We rather seek these silent RoomsThan live as Slaves to You'"

Lemuel Haynes from the battle of Lexington

"Our Fathers, tho a feeble BandDid leave their native PlaceExiled to a desert LandThis howling Wilderness"

Lemuel Haynes from The battle of Lexington

"Our Fathers Blood did freely flowTo buy our Freedom hereNor will we let our freedom goThe Price was much too dear Freedom & Life, O precious Soundsyet Freedome does excelland we will bleed upon the groundor keep our Freedom still"

Lemuel Haynes from the battle of Lexington

"Thou moon has seen, and all the stars of light,How he has wrestled with his God by night.He pray'd that grace in ev'ry heart might dwell,He long'd to see America excel;He charg'd its youth that ev'ry grace divineShould with full lustre in their conduct shine,"

Phillis Wheatley from “on the death of the rev. mr. george whitefield”

"'Take him my dear Americans, he said,'Be your complaints on his kind bosom laid:'Take him, ye Africans, he longs for you,'Impartial Saviour is his title due:'Wash'd in the fountain of redeeming blood,'You shall be sons, and kinds, and priests to God."

Phillis Wheatley from “on the death of the rev. mr. george whitefield”

"'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land;Taught my benighted soul to understandThat there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.Some view our sable race with scornful eye;"Their colour is a diabolic die."Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train."

Phillis Wheatley from “on being brought from Africa to America”

"O could I rival thine and Virgil's page,Or claim the Muses with the Mantuan Sage;Soon the same beauties should my mind adorn,And the same ardors in my soul should burn:Then should my song in bolder notes arise,And all my numbers pleasingly surprize;But here I sit, and mourn a grov'ling mind,That fain would mount, and ride upon the wind."

Phillis Wheatley from “To Maecenas”

“The happier Terence all the choir inspired his soul replenished, and his bosom fired; but say, ye Muses, why this partial grace, to one alone of Afric’s sable race; from age to age transmitting thus his name, with the first glory in the rolls of fame?”

Phillis Wheatley from “To Maecenas”

"Thy virtues, great Maecenas! Shall be sungIn praise of him, from whom those virtues sprung;While blooming wreaths around thy temples spread,I'll snatch a laurel from thine honour'd head,While you indulgent smile upon the deed."

Phillis Wheatley from “To Maecenas”

"If then the following narrative does not appear sufficiently interesting to engage generalattention, let my motive be some excuse for its publication. I am not so foolishly vain asto expect from it either immortality or literary reputation. [...] Let it therefore beremembered, that, in wishing to avoid censure, I do not aspire to praise"

Olaudah Equiano from The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano

"But alas! we were soon deprived of even the small comfort of weeping together. Thenext day proved a day of greater sorrow than I had yet experienced; for my sister and Iwere then separated, while we lay clasped in each other's arms. It was in vain that webesought them not to part us; she was torn from me, and immediately carried away, whileI was left in a state of distraction not to be described"

Olaudah Equiano from the Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano

"The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and aslave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled mewith astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was carried on board"

Olaudah Equiano from the Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano

"In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I found some of my own nation,which in a small degree gave ease to my mind. I inquired of these what was to be donewith us; they gave me to understand we were to be carried to these white people'scountry to work for them"

Olaudah Equiano from the interesting narrative of Olaudah Equiano

"The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship,which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us.[...] This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, nowbecome insupportable; and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children oftenfell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying,rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable"

Olaudah Equiano from the interesting narrative of Olaudah Equiano

"O, ye nominal Christians! might not an African ask you, learned you this from yourGod, who says unto you, Do unto all men as you would men should do unto you? Is it notenough that we are torn from our country and friends to toil for your luxury and lust ofgain? [...] Why are parents to lose their children, brother their sisters, or husbands theirwives?"

Olaudah Equiano from the interesting narrative of Olaudah Equiano

"The reader is here presented with an account, not of a renowned politician or warrior,but of an untutored African slave, brought into this Christian country at eight years ofage, wholly destitute of all education but what he received in common with otherdomesticated animals, enjoying no advantages that could lead him to suppose himselfsuperior to the beasts, his fellow servants"

Venture Smith from A narrative of the life and adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa

"The reader here may see a Franklin or a Washington, in a state of nature, or rather in astate of slavery. Destitute as he is of all education, and broken by hardships andinfirmities of age, he still exhibits striking traces of native ingenuity and good sense"

Venture Smith from A narrative of the life and adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa

"...my father was closely interrogated respecting his money which they knew he musthave. But as he gave them no account of it, he was instantly cut and pounded on his bodywith great inhumanity, that he might be induced by the torture he suffered to make thediscovery. [...] He thus died without informing his enemies of the place where his moneylay. I saw him while he was thus tortured to death. The shocking scene is to this day freshin my mind, and I have often been overcome while thinking on it"

Venture Smith from A narrative of the life and adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa

"I was bought on board by one Robertson Mumford, steward of said vessel, for fourgallons of rum, and a piece of calico, and called VENTURE, on account of his having purchased me with his own private venture. Thus I came by my name"

Venture Smith from A narrative of the life and adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa

"They all tried to bind me but in vain, tho' there were three assistants in number. Myupstart master then desisted, put his pocket handkerchief before his eyes and went homewith a design to tell his mother of the struggle with young VENTURE. He told her thattheir young VENTURE had become so stubborn that he could not control him, and askedher what he should do with him."

Venture Smith from A narrative of the life and adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa

"Being thirty-six years old, I left Col. Smith once for all. I had already been sold threedifferent times, made considerable money with seemingly nothing to derive it from, beencheated out of a large sum of money, lost much by misfortunes, and paid an enormoussum for my freedom"

Venture Smith from A narrative of the life and adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa

"When I had purchased my two sons, I had then left more than one hundred pounds.After this I purchased a negro man, for no other reason than to oblige him, and gave forhim sixty pounds. But in a short time after he run away from me, and I thereby lost allthat I gave for him, except twenty pounds which he had paid me previous to hisabsconding. The rest of my money I laid out in land, in addition to a farm which I ownedbefore, and a dwelling house thereon."

Venture Smith from A narrative of the life and adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa

"But amidst all my griefs and pains, I have many consolations; Meg, the wife of myyouth, whom I married for love, and bought with my money, is still alive. My freedom isa privilege which nothing else can equal. [...] I am now possessed of more than onehundred acres of land, and three habitable dwelling houses. It gives me joy to think that Ihave and that I deserve so good a character, especially for truth and integrity."

Venture smith from a narrative of the life and adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa

"During the long and bloody contest, in St. Domingo, between the white man, whoflourished the child of sensuality, rioting on the miseries of his slaves; had the sons ofAfrica, who, provoked to madness, and armed themselves against French barbarity;Madame Paulina was left a widow, unhappy--unprotected, and exposed to all the horrorsof the revolution"

“S” from Theresa: A Haytien Tale

"O, my God!--my God!--by propitious to the cause of justice--Be near to the Haytiensin their righteous struggle, to obtain those rights which thou hast graciously bestowed onall thy children. Raise up some few of those, who have been long degraded--give tothem dominion, and enable them to govern a state of their own"

“S” from Theresa: a Haytien Tale

"Not without much unhappiness, she saw that if she would save her life from theinhumanity of her country's enemy, she must depart from the endeared village of herinnocent childhood; still dear to her, though now it was become a theatre of many tragicscenes. The once verdant plains, round its environs had been crimsoned with the blood ofinnocence, and the nature of the times afforded no security to the oppressed natives ofSaint Nicholas"

“S” from Theresa: a Haytien tale

"It was uncertain whether she could, in safety reach the camp of the Revolutionists; theroads were at all times traveled by reconnoitering parties of the French; and what wouldbe the fate of the heroic Theresa, if taken by any of them! How cruel would be her usage,particularly, if her intentions and the circumstances, which gave them birth be known.Death inevitable would deprive the world of one so fair, so virtuous, and so noble."

“S” from Theresa: a Haytien Tale

"Madame Paulina apprehended her own danger, but her greatest solicitude was of thesafety of her daughters, who in the morning of life, were expanding, like foliages of therose into elegance and beauty. She had kept them long concealed from the knowledge ofthe enemy, whose will she knew was their law, and whose law was injustice—themother's wretchedness, and the daughter's shame and ruin"

“S” from Theresa: a Haytien Tale

"we, (coloured people of these United States,) are the most degraded, wretched, andabject set of beings that ever lived since the world began; and I pray God that none likeus ever may live again until time shall be no more"

David Walker from David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World

"Can our condition be any worse? -- Can it be more mean and abject? If there are anychanges will they not be for the better, though they may appear for the worst at first? Canthey get us any lower? Where can they get us? They are afraid to treat us worse, for theywell know, the day they do it they are gone"

David Walker from David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World

"Has Mr. Jefferson declared to the world, that we are inferior to the whites, both in theendowment of our bodies and our minds?"

David Walker from David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World

"Are we MEN!!--I ask you, O my brethren! are we MEN? Did our Creator make us to beslaves to dust and ashes like ourselves? Are they not dying worms as well as we? [...]Have we any other Master but Jesus Christ alone? Is he not their Master as well as ours?"

David Walker from David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World

"How would would they like for us to make slaves of, and hold them in cruel slavery, andmurder them as they do us? [...] The world will have an opportunity to see whether it isunfortunate for us, that our Creator has made us darker than the whites"

David Walker from David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World

"We, and the world wish to see the charges of Mr. Jefferson refuted by the blacksthemselves, according to their chance; for we must remember that what the whites havewritten respecting this subject, is other men's labours, and did not emanate from theblacks"

David Walker from David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World