William Wells Brown published his narrative, Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave, in 1847. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky to his mother, Elizabeth. He was owned by Dr. Young and was a house slave for Grove Cook. At this time, Brown found his mother and tried to be with her as much as he could. Next, He moved to Major Freeland in the city and his mother was there as well. Brown attempted to run away but was unsuccessful. His punishment was to be tied up in the smokehouse and receive a number of lashes. The next significant thing to happen was that Brown was hired out to Mr. Colburn at a hotel in Missouri. Brown didn't like the fact that when he was sent to the hotel, his entire family was sold off to different owners. Later, when Brown was working for Mr. Lovejoy, he was attacked by boys with snowballs and sticks while on an errand. One of the boy's fathers said that Brown had hurt his son. This father, named McKinney, wanted revenge and beat Brown so badly that he could not walk for the next five weeks. Brown eventually lost his job and was hired to work on a steamboat. Thinking about his mother and family, Brown decided to visit them and vowed to never run away without his mother and sister. After working his steamboat job, Brown is then given back to Mr. Haskell. Haskell has since become religious and Brown is required to go to services every week. Later on, Brown was hired to Mr. Walker to help ship slaves down the river. At Mr. Walker's home, Brown made the mistake of filling the wine glasses too high and was immediately sent to the jailer. The jailer was instructed to whip Brown and was paid a dollar for his service. However, Brown tricked another man into giving the jailer the note and money that his master had given him so the other man was whipped instead of him. He later goes on to say that he feels much regret for this act of evil that he committed. Next, he witnesses a slave being killed in New Orleans. The man was running away from his attackers and ran into the water. He never surfaced again. He then returns to St. Louis and spends the "longest year of his life" working for Mr. Walker. His master was hard pressed for money while he was gone and Brown learns that all of his family had been sold away. Next, Brown and his master have a discussion about the possibility of him being sold. At the end of the discussion, Brown is told that he has about a week to find a new master. Brown now heads to the city to find a new master. He meets his sister and mother and they begin to talk about running away. His sister is in prison and can not possibly ever be free. However, he convinces his mother to run away, even though she didn't want to leave her children. They make their escape the next night at nine. During their journey that find a way to cross the river into Illinois and then go to a town called Alton. At this time, they start traveling through the woods and use the North star as a guide. About a week into their journey it starts to rain heavily and they run out of food and water on the tenth day. The next day they arrive at a farm house. They are given food and the settlers tell them to travel by day instead of by night. As their escape continued, they eventually run into three men who end up capturing them and taking them back to St. Louis. They were around 200 miles from St. louis when they were stopped by them men. Next, Brown and his mother were thrown into prison and taken beack to their Masters. Brown is sold to Mr. Willi upon his return and he is hired out almost immediately. Brown's mom was sold to work on a cotton plantation and he goes to visit her when she is getting on the boat to leave. After this, while working on a steamer, the Captain of the boat offers to buy Brown for seven hundred dollars. William's master accepts and he begins to work as a carriage driver. Mrs. Price, William's new master's wife, wants William to marry another slave at the plantation named Maria. However, William liked Eliza, so Mrs. price purchased her. Williams decided not to marry anyone while in slavery though. The next significant thing to happen was when the Price family took a long trip and Brown served as a steward for them. The trip eventually lead to Cincinatti. While up in the free states, Brown makes the decision to run away again. On New Year's Eve, Brown makes his way off the boat and takes cover until night fall. He uses the North star to navigate and his provisions run out on the fourth day. Brown presses on but eventually catches a cold and becomes very sick. A man with the last name of Brown (Williams would eventually take this as his last name) finds Brown and takes him back to his home. The family nurses Williams back to health. He is allowed to eat at the table with them and William stays with them for over twelve days. His next step to freedom was when the family gave his provisions and he set out for Canada. He ended up running out of provisions after four more days and ends up exchanging labor to a family in return for food. After he works for a little bit he travels for three days and ends up in Cleveland, Ohio. He spends the Winter there and waits tables to support himself. When the lake thaws he makes his trek into Canada and began helping fugitive slaves escape too.
Tone- Pessimistic. Brown's tone is very conversational and not nearly as heroic as Frederick Douglass's narrative.
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