The two most famous published ex-slave narratives were produced by Frederick Douglas and Booker T. Washington. Students can choose to write about Douglass’s Narrative (1845) (or one of his two other subsequent autobiographies, My Bondage and My Freedom from 1855 or Life and Times from 1892) or Washington’s Up From Slavery (1901), but here are about two dozen more choices from among the significant (and teachable) ex-slave narratives that have been published in American history, available full-text online from “North American Slave Narratives,” in Documenting the American South.
- Ball, Charles. Fifty Years in Chains, or, The Life of an American Slave New York: H. Dayton; Indianapolis, Ind.: Asher & Co., 1859. 430 p.
- Bibb, Henry. Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave, Written by Himself New York: Author, 1849. 207 p.
- Brown, Henry Box. Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself Manchester: Printed by Lee and Glynn, 1851. 69 p.
- Brown, William Wells. Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave. Written by Himself Boston: The Anti-slavery office, 1847. xi, [13]-110 p.
- Jacobs, Harriet A. (Harriet Ann), edited by Lydia Maria Francis Child. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Written by Herself Boston: Published for the Author, 1861, c1860. 306 p.
- Craft, William. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery London: William Tweedie, 1860. iv, 111 p.
- Drew, Benjamin. [NOTE: Account of many ex-slaves compiled by an abolitionist. A North-Side View of Slavery. The Refugee: or the Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada. Related by Themselves, with an Account of the History and Condition of the Colored Population of Upper Canada Boston: J. P. Jewett and Company, 1856. xii, 387, [4] p.
- Truth, Sojourner. Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave, Emancipated from Bodily Servitude by the State of New York, in 1828 Boston: The Author, 1850. xii, 13-144 p.
- Grandy, Moses. Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy, Late a Slave in the United States of America London: Gilpin, 1843. 72 p.
- Grimes, William. Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave, Brought Down to the Present Time. New Haven: Published by the Author, 1855. 93 p.
- Henson, Josiah. The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself Boston: A. D. Phelps, 1849. iv, 76 p.
- Said, Omar ibn, b. 1770? edited by J. Franklin Jameson. Autobiography of Omar ibn Said, Slave in North Carolina, 1831. Ed. John Franklin Jameson. From The American Historical Review, 30, No. 4. (July 1925), 787-795 Washington, D. C.: American Historical Association, 1925. 787-795 p.
- Jennings, Paul. A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison Brooklyn: G.C. Beadle, 1865. 19 p.
- Keckley, Elizabeth. Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., Publishers, 1868. 371 p.
- Loguen, J. W. (Jermain Wesley). The Rev. J. W. Loguen, as a Slave and as a Freeman. A Narrative of Real Life Syracuse, N. Y.: J. G. K. Truair & Co., 1859. 445 p.
- Parker, William. The Freedman’s Story: In Two Parts The Atlantic Monthly, vol. XVII, Feb. 1866, pp. 152-166; Mar. 1866, pp. 276-295., 26 p.
- Pennington, James W. C. The Fugitive Blacksmith; or, Events in the History of James W. C. Pennington, Pastor of a Presbyterian Church, New York, Formerly a Slave in the State of Maryland, United States London: Charles Gilpin, 1849. xv, [1], 1-87, [9] p.
- Prince, Mary. The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave. Related by Herself. With a Supplement by the Editor. To Which Is Added, the Narrative of Asa-Asa, a Captured African London: Published by F. Westley and A. H. Davis, 1831. 41 p.
- Roper, Moses. A Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper, from American Slavery Philadelphia: Merrihew & Gunn, 1838. 89 p.
- Smallwood, Thomas. A Narrative of Thomas Smallwood, (Coloured Man:) Giving an Account of His Birth–The Period He Was Held in Slavery–His Release–and Removal to Canada, etc. Together With an Account of the Underground Railroad. Written by Himself Toronto: Smallwood; James Stephens, 1851. xii, 13-63 p.
- Taylor, Susie King. Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops Late 1st S. C. Volunteers Boston: The author, 1902. 92 p.
- Ward, Samuel Ringgold. Autobiography of a Fugitive Negro: His Anti-Slavery Labours in the United States, Canada, & England London: John Snow, 35, Paternoster Row, 1855. 412 p.
- Williams, James. Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave, Who Was for Several Years a Driver on a Cotton Plantation in Alabama New York: American Anti-Slavery Society; Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1838. 108 p.