William Wells Brown

Clotel (1853), the first novel written by an African American, was published in London while the author was still legally regarded as "property" in the United States....

"Brother, you have often declared that you would not end your days in slavery...."

First published in 1853 amidst rumors that Thomas Jefferson fathered children with one of his slaves, Clotel is a fictional chronicle of one such child....

Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter is rooted not only in the horrific reality of institutional slavery but also in the historical fact of Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with the enslaved Sally Hemings (here represented by the character Currer)....