William Brown escaped from slavery as a child. Brown was still considered a slave at the time of this novel's publication. Brown was a pioneer in several different literary genres, including travel and fiction. Clotel or the President's Daughter has been considered the first African-American novel. It was published in London in 1853. Brown hoped that his work would influence the British to help with the abolitionist movement in the United States. Four versions of Clotel, published between 1853 and 1867 include Clotel; or the President's Daughter: a Narrative of Slave Life in the United...

William Brown escaped from slavery as a child. Brown was still considered a slave at the time of this novels publication. Brown was a pioneer in several different literary genres, including travel and fiction. Three Years in Europe: Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met begins with a detailed autobiography of the author. Three Years in Europe is the first travel book written by a fugitive slave. The letters in this book were originally written to friends. An excerpt reads, "I waited nearly three hours before my name was called, and when it was, I unlocked my trunks and handed them...

By 1849, the Narrative of William W. Brown was in its fourth edition, having sold over 8,000 copies in less than eighteen months and making it one of the fastest-selling antislavery tracts of its time. The book's popularity can be attributed both to the strong voice of its author and Brown's notoriety as an abolitionist speaker. The son of a slave and a white man, Brown recounts his years in servitude, his cruel masters, and the brutal whippings he and those around him received. He provides a detailed description of his failed attempt to escape with his mother; after their capture,...