Born in present-day Ghana, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano was kidnapped at the age of thirteen and sold into slavery by his fellow Africans in 1770; he worked in the brutal plantation chain gangs of the West Indies before being freed in England. His "Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery" is the most direct criticism of slavery by a writer of African descent. Cugoano refutes pro-slavery arguments of the day, including slavery's supposed divine sanction; the belief that Africans gladly sold their own families into slavery; that Africans were especially suited to its rigours; and that West Indian slaves led better lives than European serfs. Exploiting his dual identity as both an African and a British citizen, Cugoano daringly asserted that all those under slavery's yoke had a moral obligation to rebel, while at the same time he appealed to white England's better self.

About the Author
Quobna Ottobah Cugoano was sold into slavery in 1770 from Ghana at the age of thirteen. He worked in the West Indies before being freed in England.

Reviews
"Vincent Carretta singlehandedly has transformed our understanding of the origins of the Anglo-African literary tradition. He has breathed new life into texts long thought dead" -Henry Louis Gates, Jr.



Book Information
ISBN 9780140447507
Author Quobna Ottobah Cugoano
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 193g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 129mm * 13mm