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First published in 1789, this autobiography of Olaudah Equiano comprises a variety of styles, such as a slavery narrative, travel tale, and spiritual journey. It recounts Equiano's time as a slave, and chronicles his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual success in gaining his freedom.

Olaudah Equiano's autobiography is a slave narrative which attracted a wide readership. It reveals many aspects of life in the 18th century. The book also shows the many the perils of seafaring, describing incidents of near drownings, shipwrecks, and collisions.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was one of the first widely-read slave narratives. Eight editions were printed during the author's lifetime, and it was translated into Dutch and German. The narrative appears in a variety of styles and describes Equiano's time spent in enslavement, documenting his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual success in gaining his own freedom.

Billy Budd, Sailor is a novella by Herman Melville which was left unfinished at the time of his death in 1891. Ecstatically received by critics in 1924 when a hastily transcribed version was published, it soon became second in importance only to Moby Dick among the author’s works. Budd is a sailor who strikes and inadvertently kills John Claggart, the Master-at-arms. The ship's Captain, Edward Vere, is aware of Budd's lack of intent but the law of mutiny requires him to sentence Billy to be hanged.

Thoreau gives an account of three canoe and hiking journeys - by himself and with others - through the mostly uninhabited forests of Maine in the 1850s. Identifying birds, trees and plants by their botanical as well as their common names, he also records the Indian names of lakes, rivers and plants. He investigates the connections between waterways and trails, and provides detail on camping, fishing and hunting in the woods, using whatever is at hand. Extolling the beauty of the wilds that he encounters, Thorough’s narrative is also imbued with elements of his philosophy.

Born into slavery, Booker T. Washington became a leading African American intellectual of the 19th century, founding Tuskegee University in 1881 and the National Negro Business League two decades later. He defines the term "industrial education" as learning the necessities to become a valuable member of society and the ability to apply this knowledge to industrial business. Washington explains the emphasis he applies to industrial education by referring to the different educational dispensations in the northern and southern states.

Booker T. Washington was an influential black intellectual and educator who founded Tuskegee University in 1881. His article, The Case of the Negro first appeared in the November 1899 issue of The Atlantic. In it, he discusses the various options to improve the lives of his people. Washington warned about the severe competition and the unfriendly influence of labor organizations that existed in the North.

The Atlanta Compromise is a historic statement on race relations articulated by Booker T. Washington, a leading black educator in the United States. On September 18, 1895, Washington gave a speech at the opening of the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia. The speech was the first given by an African-American to a racially-mixed audience in the South. Washington asserted that vocational education was more valuable to than social advantages, higher education, or political office.

Booker T. Washington's essay "The Awakening of the Negro" was published in the September 1896 issue of The Atlantic. It is a semi-autobiographical essay that sets forth Washington’s vision of uplifting his people. He relates how his work began at Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1881, in a small shanty and church without a dollar’s worth of property. The spirit of work and of industrial thrift, with aid from the state and generosity from the North, enabled them to develop an institution of 800 students from 19 states.

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) was one of the most prominent leaders in advancing African American civil rights. He points out that those who are freed cannot be members of society because they are not given the same opportunities. Washington concludes the book with five principles that will aid African Americans in their fight to have equal rights and opportunities.

My Bondage and My Freedom is Frederick Douglass’s second autobiography, published 10 years after Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Written during his career as a newspaper editor and orator, the book placed Douglass in the international spotlight as a spokesman for American blacks. Examining the meaning of race, slavery and freedom, the book extends the story of his life by providing more detail on his childhood and including his experiences as a traveling lecturer in the United States and Europe.

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, a 1912 novel by James Weldon Johnson, is a fictional autobiography which was originally published anonymously. It chronicles the intricacies of racial identity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the life of its biracial narrator. The book portrays his journey through America's color lines, from his attendance of a black college in Florida to an elite New York nightclub, from the rural South to the suburbs of the Northeast, and a visit to Europe. The author employs places, character, and incidents from his own life....

Herman Melville wrote the 1855 novella Benito Cereno, a story about a revolt on a slaver ship, the San Dominick, off the coast of Chile in 1799. It is an adventure story which highlights the cruelty of slavery and the hopeless desperation that slaves experience. The tale begins when Captain Delano of the whaling ship Bachelor's Delight spots another ship approaching, floating listlessly with torn sails.

The Reverend Joseph Julius Jackson was an African American preacher who published The History of the Black Man in 1921, a book which covers the history of the African people from Ethiopia and Egypt. Rev. Jackson believed that a lack of historical knowledge by the Afro American community about their past and origins has undermined their pride, and that a better knowledge of the contribution of the black man to civilization would ameliorate the situation.

Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street is a short story by Herman Melville, first serialized in a magazine in 1853, and reprinted with minor edits in The Piazza Tales in 1856. Set in the mid-19th century on Wall Street, the story tells of a lawyer who employs Bartleby, a new clerk, who, after an initial stint of hard work, refuses to perform any task required of him, with the words, "I would prefer not to." The narrator attempts to reason with Bartleby to no avail, and Bartleby starts living at the office.

Charles Waddell Chesnutt was an influential African American writer of fiction at the turn of the 20th century; his biographical work on Frederick Douglass was thus an exception. The book begins with Douglass’ birth in slavery and covers escape to New York. It culminates in Douglass’ life as a free man and lecturer on the antislavery circuit.

The Memoir of Pierre Toussaint is Hannah Farnham Sawyer Lee's account of the life of Toussaint, who was born a slave in Haiti. He was eventually granted emancipation, and lived in New York. Sawyer Lee, born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, was a popular author of biographies and novels.

In this article that appeared in the December 1866 issue of The Atlantic, Frederick Douglass states that no republic is safe that tolerates a privileged class or denies to any of its citizens equal rights and equal means to maintain them. The two main themes are Douglass’ criticism of President Jackson and his urgent call to extend voting rights to African Americans.