On this date in 1853, William Wells Brown published Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter, which is widely regarded as the first novel written by an African American.
The novel is a powerful work of fiction that explores the themes of slavery, race, and the complexities of identity in the United States. It tells the story of Clotel, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson and an enslaved woman, highlighting the struggles faced by African Americans in the context of both slavery and racial prejudice.
Clotel is considered a pioneering work in African American literature and a significant milestone in the history of American literature as a whole. Brown’s work is often seen as a form of activism, addressing the moral and social issues of the time.
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