Text Box: Black Literature: 19th Century African American Literature Professor Nathan Grant TTh 12:30 - 1:50 Reg. No. 171346 Text Box: 275 Text Box: The urge toward freedom in the 19th century, particularly in the years before the end of the Civil War, was naturally the strongest among African Americans, both free and enslaved. But a freedom unto what? Definitions of freedom were consistent with definitions of America, as feminism, manifest destiny, social and racial politics, sexuality, roles of government, and the apparent beneficence of Europe, among other things, are features of this writing. Not only will escaped slave narratives and protest poetry give voice to these issues, but such expressions are seen in the rise of the African American novel as well. Primary-text authors and titles include: Frederick Douglass’s 1845 Narrative; Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; the narratives of Henry Bibb and Moses Roper; George Moses Horton, Naked Genius; Frank Webb, The Garies and Their Friends; Martin Robison Delany, Blake; or, the Huts of America; Harriet Wilson, Our Nig; William Wells Brown, Clotel.