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THE BLACK MAN:

HIS ANTECEDENTS, HIS GENIUS, AND
HIS ACHIEVEMENTS.

BY

WILLIAM WELLS BROWN.

Boston:
JAMES REDPATH, Publisher,
221 Washington Street.
1863.

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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by
WILLIAMWELLS BROWN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

STEREOTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.

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TO

THE ADVOCATES AND FRIENDS

OF

NEGRO FREEDOM AND EQUALITY,

WHEREVER FOUND,

This Volume is Respectfully Dedicated,

BY THE AUTHOR.

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PREFACE.

The calumniators and traducers of the Negro are to be found, mainly,among two classes. The first and most relentless are those whohave done them the greatest injury, by being instrumental in theirenslavement and consequent degradation. They delight to descant uponthe "natural inferiority" of the blacks, and claim that we weredestined only for a servile condition, entitled neither to liberty northe legitimate pursuit of happiness. The second class are those who areignorant of the characteristics of the race, and are the mere echoes ofthe first. To meet and refute these misrepresentations, and to supply adeficiency, long felt in the community, of a work containing sketchesof individuals who, by their own genius, capacity, and intellectualdevelopment, have surmounted the many obstacles which slavery[Pg 6] andprejudice have thrown in their way, and raised themselves to positionsof honor and influence, this volume was written. The charactersrepresented in most of these biographies are for the first time put inprint. The author's long sojourn in Europe, his opportunity of researchamid the archives of England and France, and his visit to the WestIndies, have given him the advantage of information respecting theblacks seldom acquired.

If this work shall aid in vindicating the Negro's character, and showthat he is endowed with those intellectual and amiable qualities whichadorn and dignify human nature, it will meet the most sanguine hopes ofthe writer.

Cambridgeport, Mass., 1863.

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CONTENTS.