Where online can I find 18th century African-American poetry that expresses the opressed existence of slaves?

Question

I need to find poetry from blacks in the 18th century who expressed the downtrodden existence of slaves and how slavery affected everyone.

Answer 1

I don't know about "Online," but having studied "Slavery" you might try the following books:

Soul By Soul, by Walter Johnson, Harvard Press University, 1999

Exchanging Our Country Marks, by Michael A. Gomez, The University of North Carolina Press, 1998

The South, by Jeanetter Keith, Prentise Hall, 2002

Masters of Small Worlds, by Stephanie McCrury, Oxford University Press, 1995

Answer 2

Below I will place poems that express the opressed existence of slaves, written in the eighteenth century, along with a short biogragphy of the authors.However I could not find many poems online, therefore I will list other authors of interest to you so you could go to the library and try to find some books by them. I will ,of course, list my sources.

A poem by Phillis Wheatley, on being brought to america from africa.

'TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither fought now knew,
5: Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

Phillis Wheatley was born in Senegal in about 1753. She was captured by slave traders and brought to America in 1761. Purchased by John Wheatley, a tailor from Boston, Phillis was taught to read by one of Wheatley's daughters. Phillis studied English, Latin and Greek and in 1767 began writing poetry.

He Had His Dream, by Paul Laurence Dunbar

He had his dream, and all through life,
Worked up to it through toil and strife.
Afloat fore'er before his eyes,
It colored for him all his skies:
The storm-cloud dark
Above his bark,
The calm and listless vault of blue
Took on its hopeful hue,
It tinctured every passing beam --
He had his dream.

He labored hard and failed at last,
His sails too weak to bear the blast,
The raging tempests tore away
And sent his beating bark astray.
But what cared he
For wind or sea!
He said, "The tempest will be short,
My bark will come to port."
He saw through every cloud a gleam --
He had his dream.

Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American to gain national eminence as a poet. Born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, he was the son of ex-slaves and classmate to Orville Wright of aviation fame.

Below is a list of 18th century african american authors who wrote poetry about slavery, as well as other things.

George Moses Horton
Horton, George Moses (ca. 1797-ca.1883), poet, was born in Northampton County, the property of William Horton who also owned his mother, his five older half sisters, and his younger brother and three sisters. As a child, he moved with his master to Chatham County, taught himself to read, and began composing in his head a series of stanzas based on the rhythms in Wesley hymns. In 1814 he was given to William's son James, at whose death in 1843 he passed to James's son Hall.

William Wells Brown
He was born near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1814. His father was George Higgins, a white plantation owner, but his mother was a black slave. His mother had seven children, all with different fathers. William served several slave-masters before escaping in 1834. He adopted the name of his friend, Wells Brown, a Quaker who had helped him obtain his freedom.

Answer 3

http://msxml.excite.com/info.xcite/search/web/african%2Bamerican%2Bpoetry

might find something here