ABSTRACT
Often considered the fi rst African-American historian, novelist and playwright, William Wells Brown was one of the most prolifi c writers of the nineteenth century.1 His discussion of African culture along with his ideas on the differences between his spiritual views and the religion esteemed by much of the master class provide us with another example of how an ex-slave who enjoyed the privilege of moving within highly visible political circles was able to offer insightful commentary on the counter-culture of blacks. Few, if any, have provided such detailed descriptions of slave-dancing rituals as Brown. His writings, like those of Douglass and the other authors of slave narratives treated throughout this project, call into question theories of plantation paternalism.
