The Life and Dying Speech of Arthur, a Negro Man, Who Was Executed at Worcester, October 10, 1768 / La vie et les dernières paroles d’Arthur, un Nègre, exécuté à Worcester le 20 Octobre 1768
Few eighteenth-century slave narratives are available in French, especially as no such personal narratives were produced in the French colonies. Translating North American narratives is thus highly useful. The Life, the translation of which is presented here, qualifies as much as the confession of a...
| Published in: | XVII-XVIII |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Société d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles
2019-12-01
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/1718/3870 |
| Summary: | Few eighteenth-century slave narratives are available in French, especially as no such personal narratives were produced in the French colonies. Translating North American narratives is thus highly useful. The Life, the translation of which is presented here, qualifies as much as the confession of a criminal as that of a real story of slavery and freedom. Through his confession on the eve of his execution, Arthur makes it possible for readers to delve into the “social world” of Massachusetts slaves in the early years of the American Revolution. In this document, the young man flees an angry owner to join his Indian girlfriends, becomes a sailor in the Caribbean, and multiplies thefts in the colony before the judicial system catches up with him. |
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| ISSN: | 0291-3798 |