Frederick Douglass, The Heroic Slave

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In the decade following the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, abolitionist essays, pamphlets and novels were a major trend in American literature, with Harriet Beecher Stowe’s

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

leading the way in terms of popular success. A lesser known work, but one that has emerged as an essential text in the nineteenth century canon, is Frederick Douglass’s 1853 novella,

The Heroic Slave

. One of the earliest examples of African-American fiction (William Wells Brown’s novel

Clotel

was published the same year),

The Heroic Slave

recounts an 1841 mutiny aboard the slave ship

Creole

while painting a compelling portrait of the rebellion’s leader, Madison Washington. Written with passion and social insight, Douglass’s narrative is at once a valuable artifact, a cogent plea for…

3085 words

Citation: Chura, Patrick. "The Heroic Slave". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 April 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39083, accessed 28 March 2024.]

39083 The Heroic Slave 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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