William Wells Brown escaped slavery in 1834. He fled first to Cleveland and then to Boston, where he became a popular antislavery lecturer. He published his narrative, excerpted here, in 1847. The successful book marked the beginning of Brown’s literary career. His novel Clotel; or the President’s Daughter was published in 1853 while he was in London to avoid recapture into slavery.
A woman was also kept at the quarters to do the cooking for the field hands, who were summoned to their unrequited toil every morning at four o’clock, by the ringing of a bell, hung on a post near the house of the overseer. They were allowed half an hour to eat their breakfast, and get to the field. At half past four, a horn was blown by the overseer, which was the signal to commence work; and every one that was not on the spot at the time, had to receive ten lashes from the negro-whip, with which the overseer always went armed. The handle was about three feet long, with the butt-end filled with lead, and the lash six or seven feet in length, made of cowhide, with platted wire on the end of it. This whip was put in requisition very frequently and freely, and a small offence on the part of a slave furnished an occasion for its use. During the time that Mr. Cook was overseer, I was a house servant—a situation preferable to that of a field hand, as I was better fed, better clothed, and not obliged to rise at the ringing of the bell, but about half an hour after. I have often laid and heard the crack of the whip, and the screams of the slave. My mother was a field hand, and one morning was ten or fifteen minutes behind the others in getting into the field. As soon as she reached the spot where they were at work, the overseer commenced whipping her. She cried, “Oh! pray—Oh! pray—Oh! pray”—these are generally the words of slaves, when imploring mercy at the hands of their oppressors. I heard her voice, and knew it, and jumped out of my bunk, and went to the door. Though the field was some distance from the house, I could hear every crack of the whip, and every groan and cry of my poor mother. I remained at the door, not daring to venture any farther. The cold chills ran over me, and I wept aloud. After giving her ten lashes, the sound of the whip ceased, and I returned to my bed, and found no consolation but in my tears. It was not yet daylight.
Source: William Wells Brown, Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave, Written by Himself (Boston: The Anti-Slavery Office, 1847), 14–16.