ABSTRACT
Solomon Bayley was an African American enslaved person who eventually purchased his emancipation and that of his family. Later in life, he emigrated with his wife to Liberia, working as a missionary and farmer. His autobiography was published in England, as an early piece of abolitionist literature. Accounts of enslaved lives were designed to highlight the cruelty of slavery and the humanity of people of African descent. They offer unique access to the life histories of many enslaved people during the period. The extract below describes a moment early in Bayley’s life when he makes a break for freedom. The account offers a detailed description of his thoughts and feelings during this fraught event, as well as the way that God guided his decisions on his journey. It is an artfully constructed text designed to guide the reader through both his fear and anxiety as he endeavours to avoid capture, while building narrative tension as the reader awaits the outcome. As a source for the history of emotions, his autobiography offers a sentimental text designed to produce sympathy in audiences through shared recognition of emotions, and to act as persuasive literature designed to promote political action. If the subjectivity in any text designed to be sold and marketed is shaped by genre, nonetheless this account provides access to the voice and emotional experience of an African American during the early nineteenth century and the way it was mediated through religious belief and practice.
