William Wells Brown’s Clotel (1853), the first novel written by an African American, was published in London while Brown was still legally regarded as "property" within the borders of the United States. The novel was inspired by the story of Thomas Jefferson’s purported sexual relationship with his slave Sally Hemings. Brown fictionalizes the stories of Jefferson’s mistress, daughters, and granddaughters — all of whom are slaves — in order to demythologize the dominant U.S. cultural narrative celebrating Jefferson’s America as a nation of freedom and equality for all. The documents in this edition include excerpts from Brown’s sources for the novel — fiction, political essays, sermons, and presidential proclamations; selections that illuminate the range of contemporary attitudes concerning race, slavery, and prejudice; and pieces that advocate various methods of resistance and reform.

Clotel: Or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States (Bedford Cultural Editions)

Literature & Fiction

Brown, William Wells Wells

United States

Bedford/St.Martin's

The Confessions of Nat Turner and Clotel: and Related Documents

Greenberg, Kenneth S.

LeVine, Robert

History

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 2e & Clotel & Marrow of Tradition

DOUGLASS, FREDERICK

Chesnutt, Charles W.

Biographies & Memoirs

Including selections from the key texts and cultural documents the author drew on to write Clotel in 1853, this novel marks the first book published by an by an African American. It was inspired by the rumored sexual relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings.

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Books by Brown, William Wells Wells