Title: Chains and freedom, or, The life and adventures of Peter Wheeler
Description: Formatted as an oral history interview, with questions and answers written in dialect, Charles Edwards Lester ("author of the 'Mountain wild flower'") interviewed Peter Wheeler, born a slave in 1789, in Little Egg Harbour, a parish of Tuckertown, New Jersey, to publish a slave narrative that would evoke sympathy for the Abolitionist movement. The first part is Wheeler's slavery days from his childhood which was pleasant until he was eleven and was sold to Gideon Morehouse, where his life as a slave becomes harsh and brutal. It concludes with his successful escape to New York and a section in which Lester discusses several points relating to the narrative and the larger issues of slavery and Abolition. The second part describes Wheeler's life as a freedman and travels to the West Indies and Europe, and his continuing experiences with slavery. The third and final part details his life in various New England states, his marriage, and concludes with his conversion to Christianity.
Subjects: Interviews, African Americans, Biography, Fugitive slaves, Freed persons, Slaves, Slavery, History, Antislavery movements, Slaves' writings, American
Places: New York (State)
People: Peter Wheeler (1789-1842)
Time periods: 18th century