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A narrative of Thomas Smallwood, (Coloured man) giving an account of his birth, the period he was held in slavery, his release and removal to Canada, etc. : together with an account of the Underground Railroad Cover Image E-book

A narrative of Thomas Smallwood, (Coloured man) giving an account of his birth, the period he was held in slavery, his release and removal to Canada, etc. : together with an account of the Underground Railroad

Smallwood, Thomas 1801- (Author). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project) (Added Author). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. (Added Author).

Summary: Thomas Smallwood 's narrative describes briefly his own years as a slave but focuses mostly on his life after being freed at age 30. For several years, Smallwood worked as an advocate for the American Colonization Society (he always referred to it as the "African Colonisation Society") but became disillusioned with its mission and methods, and turned his efforts to working with organizers of the Underground Railroad around Maryland and Washington, D.C. Much of the narrative describes in detail his work helping slaves to escape and the danger from both slaveholders and associates who betrayed him, sometimes forcing him and his family to seek refuge in Canada. What he sees as the bitterness of life for Blacks in the U.S., both slave and free, turns him completely against the United States and he ends by advocating life in Canada for former slaves. In his preface, Smallwood includes anti-slavery quotations from influential European writers as well as a short sketch about David Walker, the author of "Walker's appeal," a passionate denunciation of slavery written in 1829 that greatly influenced him.

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Record details

  • Physical Description: electronic resource
    Electronic data (1 file : ca. 140 kilobytes).
    remote
    1 online resource
  • Edition: Electronic edition
  • Publisher: [Chapel Hill, N.C.] : Academic Affairs Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001.

Content descriptions

General Note:
Text transcribed by Apex Data Services, Inc. Text encoded by Apex Data Services, Inc., Courtney Vien and Natalia Smith.
This electronic edition has been transcribed from a microfiche supplied by the North Carolina State University Library.
This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digitization project's database, Documenting the American South. It is a part of the collection North American slave narratives.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Oct. 23, 2003).
Type of Computer File or Data Note:
Text (HTML and SGML) and images (JPEG).
Original Version Note:
Transcribed from the microfiche of: A narrative of Thomas Smallwood, (Coloured man) : giving an account of his birth, the period he was held in slavery, his release and removal to Canada, etc. : together with an account of the Underground Railroad / written by himself. Toronto : Printed for the author by James Stephens, 1851. 63 p.
Funding Information Note:
Funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities supported the electronic publication of this title.
System Details Note:
System requirements: PC with modem or direct Internet connection; SGML viewer required for SGML files.

Search for related items by subject

Subject:
Smallwood, Thomas 1801-
Walker, David 1785-1830
American Colonization Society.
African Americans Biography
Antislavery movements
Black people Canada
Enslaved persons' writings
Freedmen United States Biography
Fugitive slaves Canada
Fugitive slaves United States
Slavery United States
Enslaved persons Maryland Biography
Underground Railroad
Genre:
Slave narratives.
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