SOURCE: “The Color of Ham and Cain,” in My Chains Fell Off, New York: University Press of America, 1985, pp. 63-66.

In the following essay, Whelchel summarizes Brown's teachings on slavery and its effects.

William Wells Brown, a productive and published writer of American literature, was one of the first black American authors to support himself through writing. He first published in 1847, only thirteen years after his escape from human bondage. Over the next forty years, Brown published nine major books and at his death in 1884, his works had appeared in over thirty editions. Primarily known as a writer, he was also an effective lecturer for the abolition of slavery.

Brown's initial publication, his The Narrative of William Wells Brown, was an effective attack upon slavery. His narrative was widely read and over a two-year period, 8,000 copies (four editions) were sold. The slave narrative presented the side of slavery...