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The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave Narrative
Born in Bermuda to a house slave in 1788, Mary Prince suffered the first of many soul-shattering experiences in her life when she was separated from her parents and siblings at the age of twelve. Subjected to bodily and sexual abuse by subsequent masters, she was bought and sold several times before she was ultimately freed.
The first black woman to break the bonds of slavery in the British colonies and publish a record of her experiences, Prince vividly recalls her life in the West Indies, her rebellion against physical and psychological degradation, and her eventual escape in 1828 in England. Her straightforward, often poetic account of immense anguish, separation from her husband, and struggle for freedom inflamed public opinion during a period when stormy debates on abolition were common in both the United States and England.
This edition also includes a substantial supplement by Thomas Pringle, the original editor, as well as another brief slave account: The Narrative of Asa-Asa, a Captured African.
Essential reading for students of African-American studies, Mary Prince’s classic account of determination and endurance aids in filling the many gaps in black women’s history.
The first black woman to break the bonds of slavery in the British colonies and publish a record of her experiences, Prince vividly recalls her life in the West Indies, her rebellion against physical and psychological degradation, and her eventual escape in 1828 in England. Her straightforward, often poetic account of immense anguish, separation from her husband, and struggle for freedom inflamed public opinion during a period when stormy debates on abolition were common in both the United States and England.
This edition also includes a substantial supplement by Thomas Pringle, the original editor, as well as another brief slave account: The Narrative of Asa-Asa, a Captured African.
Essential reading for students of African-American studies, Mary Prince’s classic account of determination and endurance aids in filling the many gaps in black women’s history.
69 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1831
172 people are currently reading
2,910 people want to read
About the author
Mary Prince
64books15followersMary Prince (c. 1788-after 1833) was born into slavery in Devonshire Parish, Bermuda. While she was later living in London, her autobiography, The History of Mary Prince (1831), was the first account of the life of a black woman to be published in the United Kingdom.
Belonging to the genre of slave narratives, this first-hand description of the brutalities of enslavement, released at a time when slavery was still legal in British Caribbean colonies, had a galvanising effect on the anti-slavery movement. It went through three printings in the first year. Prince had her account transcribed while living and working in England at the home of Thomas Pringle, secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society. She had gone to London with her master and his family in 1828 from Antigua.
Belonging to the genre of slave narratives, this first-hand description of the brutalities of enslavement, released at a time when slavery was still legal in British Caribbean colonies, had a galvanising effect on the anti-slavery movement. It went through three printings in the first year. Prince had her account transcribed while living and working in England at the home of Thomas Pringle, secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society. She had gone to London with her master and his family in 1828 from Antigua.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 308 reviews
July 9, 2016
The only thing I wish is that we could have read Mary's story in her own words and her own dialect, "unintelligibility" be damned. I could have also done without a fair bit of the editor's commentary, including the part where he posits that slavery was "a curse to the oppressor scarcely less than to the oppressed: its natural tendency is to brutalise both" and says "I am inclined to doubt whether [...] the master is not even a greater object of compassion than his bondman." Disgusting that he'd even imply it, much less outright say it. "It was 1830 Laura, he was trying his best to get his fellow whites on the bandwagon." I don't care. Do it some other way.
Still, precious to read. Every first hand story we have from that era should be chiselled in stone.
Still, precious to read. Every first hand story we have from that era should be chiselled in stone.
January 9, 2015
Oh the horrors of slavery!—How the thought of it pains my heart! But the truth ought to be told of it; and what my eyes have seen I think it is my duty to relate; for few people in England know what slavery is. I have been a slave—I have felt what a slave feels, and I know what a slave knows; and I would have all the good people in England to know it too, that they may break our chains, and set us free.
In 1831 Thomas Pringle, secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society, took down 's story in her own words and published it along with his commentary and corroborating statements, and Asa-Asa's story of how he was taken from his home in Africa and sold to white men as a slave.Two years after publication, in 1833, slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire.
Although Maryhad a blissfully ignorant and happy childhood as a companion slave to a white child, at age 12 everything changed. From then on she spent the bulk of her slave years with a succession of cruel masters. Travelling from her home in Bermuda to working the horrific salt ponds of Turks Island for four years, the ontoAntigua, and finally to England where she was legally free.
Some of the horrors:
I was licked, and flogged, and pinched by her pitiless fingers in the neck and arms, exactly as they were. To strip me naked—to hang me up by the wrists and lay my flesh open with the cow-skin, was an ordinary punishment for even a slight offence.
My master flew into a terrible passion, and ordered the poor creature to be stripped quite naked, notwithstanding her pregnancy, and to be tied up to a tree in the yard. He then flogged her as hard as he could lick, both with the whip and cow-skin, till she was all over streaming with blood. He rested, and then beat her again and again. Her shrieks were terrible. The consequence was that poor Hetty was brought to bed before her time, and was delivered after severe labour of a dead child.
Our feet and legs, from standing in the salt water for so many hours, soon became full of dreadful boils, which eat down in some cases to the very bone, afflicting the sufferers with great torment.
This poor man's wounds were never healed, and I have often seen them full of maggots, which increased his torments to an intolerable degree.
...flung her among the prickly-pear bushes, which are all covered over with sharp venomous prickles. By this her naked flesh was so grievously wounded, that her body swelled and festered all over, and she died a few days after.
He had an ugly fashion of stripping himself quite naked, and ordering me then to wash him in a tub of water. This was worse to me than all the licks. Sometimes when he called me to wash him I would not come, my eyes were so full of shame.
...if the Lord had not put it into the hearts of the neighbours to be kind to me, I must, I really think, have lain and died.
...he prayed that God would forgive him. He said it was a horrid thing for a ranger to have sometimes to beat his own wife or sister; but he must do so if ordered by his master.
I was really quite appalled that a mixed race woman like myself would be so cruel to those less fortunate:
...hired a mulatto woman to nurse the child; but she was such a fine lady she wanted to be mistress over me. I thought it very hard for a coloured woman to have rule over me because I was a slave and she was free... The mulatto woman was rejoiced to have power to keep me down. She was constantly making mischief; there was no living for the slaves—no peace after she came.
Mary's spirit was never truly broken as she made money where she could to purchase her freedom. Several times she asked to buy her freedom and each time was turned down despite having the means to pay for it.
I never knew rightly that I had much sin till I went there. When I found out that I was a great sinner, I was very sorely grieved, and very much frightened.
While religion empowered Mary by educating her, it also added to her woes. Who wants to bet the majority of her 'sins' surround her lack of freedom? She shouldn't be made to feel bad for those feelings, her masters should.
He was very industrious after he bought his freedom; and he had hired a comfortable house, and had convenient things about him. We were joined in marriage, about Christmas 1826...We could not be married in the English Church. English marriage is not allowed to slaves; and no free man can marry a slave woman... Ihad not much happiness in my marriage, owing to my being a slave. It made my husband sad to see me so ill-treated.
When Mary came to England she was legally free and no longer a slave. Having no friends and no means of procuring a living, she was forced to remain with her master, still working as a slave, though he repeatedly tried to kick her out on the street. Until she found a branch of theMoravianchurch which educated and married her in Antigua where she found kind people who took her in and cared for her when she was bed bound from rheumatism. They then introduced her to the Anti-Slavery Society who not only championed her cause for freedom from her master so she could return to her husband in Antigua, but also sometimes supported her financially when she couldn't find work.
I would rather work for my living than get it for nothing. They were very good to give me a supply, but I felt shame at being obliged to apply for relief whilst I had strength to work.
At last I went into the service of Mr. and Mrs. Pringle, where I have been ever since, and am as comfortable as I can be while separated from my dear husband, and away from my own country and all old friends and connections.
At this time Mary was approximately 40 years old and despite the Pringle's support, Mary'smaster wouldn't grant her freedom even withmany offerings of money.
As she had no one to refer to for a character in this country except himself, he doubtless calculated securely on her being speedily driven back, as soon as the slender fund she had in her possession was expended, to throw herself unconditionally upon his tender mercies; and his disappointment in this expectation appears to have exasperated his feelings of resentment towards the poor woman...
...prefers losing entirely the full price of the slave, for the mere satisfaction of preventing a poor black woman from returning home to her husband!
...there existed no legal means of compelling Mary's master to grant her manumission;
...intention to bring in a Bill to provide for the entire emancipation of all slaves brought to England with the owner's consent.
Mr. Wood became at length alarmed,—not relishing, it appears, the idea of having the case publicly discussed in the House of Commons; and to avert this result he submitted to temporize—assumed a demeanour of unwonted civility, and even hinted to Mr. Manning (as I was given to understand) that if he was not driven to utter hostility by the threatened exposure, he would probably meet our wishes "in his own time and way."
In trying to help Mary, her new boss, Mr. Pringle,conversed with Mary's owner by letter:
He alleges that she was, before marriage, licentious, and even depraved in her conduct, and unfaithful to her husband afterwards.
Her husband, he says, has taken another wife; "so that on that score," he adds, "he does her no injury." Supposing this fact be true, (which I doubt...
Pringle was deeply offended at the cruelty of such words. He had no reason to believe the lies since he saw Mary as...a well-disposed and respectable woman.
Pringle later finds from a source in Bermuda that:
...she was viewed by her owners as their most respectable and trustworthy female slave. It is within my personal knowledge that she had usually the charge of the house in their absence, was entrusted with the keys, &c.; and was always considered by the neighbours and visitors as their confidential household servant, and as a person in whose integrity they placed unlimited confidence...
How ironic. For Mary to be treated so dreadfully for 13 years by her owners to find they valued her so highly. To throw her away, tossing her out into the street, you'd think they hated her. That's no way to treat someone you want to keep around.
In fact, how slaves were treated in general made no economic sense. If you beat and maim your slaves, they lose value. Their productivity drops, perhaps permanently. You'll not make back the money you paid trying to sell them on. And killing them, well, you might as well have burned your money. What was paid for slaves back then translates into hundreds and thousands of Great British Pounds today. It was in their best interests to treat them well, and yet they didn't.
"I would rather go into my grave than go back a slave to Antigua, though I wish to go back to my husband very much—very much—very much! I am much afraid my owners would separate me from my husband, and use me very hard, or perhaps sell me for a field negro;—and slavery is too too bad. I would rather go into my grave!" - heard by Thomas Pringle
Countlessefforts involvingmen of influence to beseech Mary's owner on her behalf, he never set her free. However, two years after publication slavery was abolished. It's not known whether Mary returned to Antigua to be with her husband after finally gaining her freedom, but I'd like to hope they were reunited and that their ending was a happy one. AlthoughI suspect if she did return, Mr. Woods, her vindictiveformer owner, would never allow Mary to be happy for one moment while he still breathed.
I admire Mary for her strength, bravery and determination to never let the bastards win, as well as her willingness to openly share her story with others, to tell England and its countless families profiting from slavery what she really thinks of them:
I am often much vexed, and I feel great sorrow when I hear some people in this country say, that the slaves do not need better usage, and do not want to be free. They believe the foreign people, who deceive them, and say slaves are happy. I say, Not so. How can slaves be happy when they have the halter round their neck and the whip upon their back? and are disgraced and thought no more of than beasts?—and are separated from their mothers, and husbands, and children, and sisters, just as cattle are sold and separated?
I have often wondered how English people can go out into the West Indies and act in such a beastly manner. But when they go to the West Indies, they forget God and all feeling of shame, I think, since they can see and do such things. They tie up slaves like hogs—moor them up like cattle, and they lick them, so as hogs, or cattle, or horses never were flogged;—and yet they come home and say, and make some good people believe, that slaves don't want to get out of slavery. But they put a cloak about the truth. It is not so. All slaves want to be free—to be free is very sweet.
We don't mind hard work, if we had proper treatment, and proper wages like English servants, and proper time given in the week to keep us from breaking the Sabbath. But they won't give it: they will have work—work—work, night and day, sick or well, till we are quite done up; and we must not speak up nor look amiss, however much we be abused. And then when we are quite done up, who cares for us, more than for a lame horse? This is slavery. I tell it, to let English people know the truth; and I hope they will never leave off to pray God, and call loud to the great King of England, till all the poor blacks be given free, and slavery done up for evermore.
'Wherever slavery prevails, there will inevitably be found cruelty and oppression.' - Mr. Thomas Pringle
The story of Louis Asa-Asa
A great many people, whom we called Adinyés, set fire to Egie in the morning before daybreak; there were some thousands of them. They killed a great many, and burnt all their houses. They staid two days, and then carried away all the people whom they did not kill.
They sold all they carried away, to be slaves. I know this because I afterwards saw them as slaves on the other side of the sea.
...the children were too small for slaves, so they killed them.
I do not know if they found my father and mother, and brothers and sisters: they had run faster than me, and were half a mile farther when I got up into the tree: I have never seen them since.
[I] was about thirteen years old. It was about half a year from the time I was taken, before I saw the white people.
...offered the choice of going back to Africa, replied, "Me no father, no mother now; me stay with you."
...for if I go back to my own country, I might be taken as a slave again. I would rather stay here, where I am free, than go back to my country to be sold.
I am well off myself, for I am well taken care of, and have good bed and good clothes; but I wish my own people to be as comfortable."
is the first hand account from a slave who was not only from the Caribbean but had also lived in England. From what I can tell, that's rare. Most slave narratives, at least the most popular ones, are American. Finding out there was also an account from a slave who was taken from Africa was an unexpected bonus. Both made for fascinating reading despite the harrowing yet insightfulcontent. There was never a dull moment.
It was heartening to know Mary finally made it beyond a life of physical suffering, if not a mental one, to knowthat she never once blamed all white people for the crimes committed against her, and to know there were kind and powerful allies who championed her cause.
Powerful, inspiring and informative.
November 9, 2015
pros
It shows the extreme amount of brutality that goes beyond how media represents slavery. I can understand why this was not picked to be a movie. It does not have a white savior or pretty ending. It is interesting to see how slavery was in the West Indies. I’m also reading Black in Latin America which talks about how slavery impacted slaves there. Reading both of these brings together the shared experiences of slavery. I wish that high schools not only taught black history beyond slavery and civil rights movement but also went deeper in these two periods in history.
It is nothing Mary Prince could’ve controlled but this book made me question how much is censored when you need the approval of white people to not only write your story but also to publish it. I did not have to question this before because what I had read so far were written by black people . What made me think about this is a part at the beginning of the narrative where the person writing Mary Prince’s narrative excludes peoples names because he does not want to hurt that persons relatives.
The Supplement to History of Mary Prince
This was boring for the most part. It did offer commentary and a rebuttal to the slave owners argument but it is written in legal jargon.
The story of Louis Asa-Asa
It was interesting to see a first hand account of someone who was captured from Africa.
Conclusion
After reading Mary Prince I was ready to see black women not being brutalized and suffering
It shows the extreme amount of brutality that goes beyond how media represents slavery. I can understand why this was not picked to be a movie. It does not have a white savior or pretty ending. It is interesting to see how slavery was in the West Indies. I’m also reading Black in Latin America which talks about how slavery impacted slaves there. Reading both of these brings together the shared experiences of slavery. I wish that high schools not only taught black history beyond slavery and civil rights movement but also went deeper in these two periods in history.
It is nothing Mary Prince could’ve controlled but this book made me question how much is censored when you need the approval of white people to not only write your story but also to publish it. I did not have to question this before because what I had read so far were written by black people . What made me think about this is a part at the beginning of the narrative where the person writing Mary Prince’s narrative excludes peoples names because he does not want to hurt that persons relatives.
The Supplement to History of Mary Prince
This was boring for the most part. It did offer commentary and a rebuttal to the slave owners argument but it is written in legal jargon.
The story of Louis Asa-Asa
It was interesting to see a first hand account of someone who was captured from Africa.
Conclusion
After reading Mary Prince I was ready to see black women not being brutalized and suffering
February 13, 2022
An incredibly important historical narrative in its positioning as the first published slave narrative by a Black woman. Mary Prince’s narrative is so biting in such an interesting way; the moments wherein her voice slips through from simple description are fantastic. Important historically and as a text wherein the voice of this woman can slip through.
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December 12, 2020
Yowch.
November 25, 2023
#ReadAroundTheWorld #Bermuda
Mary Prince was born as a slave in Bermuda in 1788. She was taken from the house where her mother and siblings lived when she was twelve and sold to another master. Mary was bought and sold several times and also lived in Turks and Caicos and Antigua before being taken to England. She experienced great hardship but was able to express this poignantly, becoming the first black woman whose story was published in Britain. Her memoirs were published in London in 1831 at a time when slavery and abolitionism were hotly debated. They went through three publishings in the first year and her powerful story with its very human face, had a great impact on the debate and was instrumental in the battle to abolish slavery. I found this to be a short but impacting read.
Mary Prince was born as a slave in Bermuda in 1788. She was taken from the house where her mother and siblings lived when she was twelve and sold to another master. Mary was bought and sold several times and also lived in Turks and Caicos and Antigua before being taken to England. She experienced great hardship but was able to express this poignantly, becoming the first black woman whose story was published in Britain. Her memoirs were published in London in 1831 at a time when slavery and abolitionism were hotly debated. They went through three publishings in the first year and her powerful story with its very human face, had a great impact on the debate and was instrumental in the battle to abolish slavery. I found this to be a short but impacting read.
February 25, 2022
This is more of a piece of political propaganda than the true voice of Mary Prince. Told via Thomas Pringle and Susie Strickland, Mary’s plight is used to further the anti-slavery cause in the U.K. in the 19th century. The story is told in as much of the appendices than the story itself which is only 39 pages long. Obviously abolishing slavery is a banging mission, but there’s too much simpering of William Wilberforce and crew for me. Ironically, Mary’s ‘own voice� is usurped by the white man to be the means to their own ends. And it feels less like ending slavery because it’s abhorrent and more like an infantilising and paternalistic mission to save the slaves from a fate inflicted by their own peers. Screams white saviour complex.
Nevertheless, is an incredible, yet gruesome, snapshot of history and paints bare the attitudes of Britain and their opinion of slavery at that time. Very much “not on our shores� and “in Britain You’re a free woman� from both the white middle classes and black slaves alike - there’s a lot of “Britain would never let this happen!� Well who tf you think leading the slave plantations in the Caribbean if not ur very own Brits!?
Nevertheless, is an incredible, yet gruesome, snapshot of history and paints bare the attitudes of Britain and their opinion of slavery at that time. Very much “not on our shores� and “in Britain You’re a free woman� from both the white middle classes and black slaves alike - there’s a lot of “Britain would never let this happen!� Well who tf you think leading the slave plantations in the Caribbean if not ur very own Brits!?
July 23, 2019
It was heart wrenching to read about this poor woman and her life as a slave.
Many times I had to remind myself that this was an account of actual occurrences and not fiction.
It is beyond my comprehension how people can treat others in such a cruel and gruesome way.
The narration of Mary's experiences was very well done. It conveyed the anguish she had to endure without an unnecessary element of melodrama.
This short text is a great resource to further understand the truth and ugliness that came with the West Indian slave trade.
Many times I had to remind myself that this was an account of actual occurrences and not fiction.
It is beyond my comprehension how people can treat others in such a cruel and gruesome way.
The narration of Mary's experiences was very well done. It conveyed the anguish she had to endure without an unnecessary element of melodrama.
This short text is a great resource to further understand the truth and ugliness that came with the West Indian slave trade.
January 24, 2024
I read two editions of this, and the older edition with the introductory notes by Moira Ferguson is a great volume, comes with a great introduction, and very helpful appendices. The edition by Penguin is just a bad copy of it. Don't waste your time and money on that!
Published in 1831, The History of Mary Prince is a narrative of the life of an enslaved woman from Bermuda who, after long years of enslavement and subjection to incessant brutalities of cruel masters, travels to England with her last owner and once in England, asks for her freedom. Mr. Wood, the man who was legally responsible for Mary’s life, refuses to manumit her, and in response to her demands for freedom, he simply abandons her in England and in order to avoid legal liability for that, returns to the West Indies with his family.
According to British law, the enslaved people who came to England were considered free but according to the court ruling by Chief Justice Stowell in Case of the Slave Grace, or The Mongrel Woman, Grace, “Slaves have never been deemed an considered as free persons on their return to Antigua, or the other colonies.� (Wong, 38) This legal precedent bars Mary Prince from returning to the West Indies without falling victim to re-enslavement. As a result, Mary has to live apart from her husband, a manumitted cooper and carpenter in the West Indies.
Mary, having converted to Moravianism in the West Indies, manages to make her case heard first by the heads of the congregation, then by the Anti-Slavery Society, their secretary Mr. Pringle, and their legal counselors, and finally by an amanuensis, Mrs. Strickland. The Moravians decide to mediate with the Woods; members of the Anti-Slavery Society seek to buy her freedom and help her with the wherewithal to live in England, legal counselors decline the likelihood to overturn the Grace precedent, and the amanuensis and Mr. Pringle move to publish Mary’s story into what is today a foundational piece of anti-slavery literature.
Published in 1831, The History of Mary Prince is a narrative of the life of an enslaved woman from Bermuda who, after long years of enslavement and subjection to incessant brutalities of cruel masters, travels to England with her last owner and once in England, asks for her freedom. Mr. Wood, the man who was legally responsible for Mary’s life, refuses to manumit her, and in response to her demands for freedom, he simply abandons her in England and in order to avoid legal liability for that, returns to the West Indies with his family.
According to British law, the enslaved people who came to England were considered free but according to the court ruling by Chief Justice Stowell in Case of the Slave Grace, or The Mongrel Woman, Grace, “Slaves have never been deemed an considered as free persons on their return to Antigua, or the other colonies.� (Wong, 38) This legal precedent bars Mary Prince from returning to the West Indies without falling victim to re-enslavement. As a result, Mary has to live apart from her husband, a manumitted cooper and carpenter in the West Indies.
Mary, having converted to Moravianism in the West Indies, manages to make her case heard first by the heads of the congregation, then by the Anti-Slavery Society, their secretary Mr. Pringle, and their legal counselors, and finally by an amanuensis, Mrs. Strickland. The Moravians decide to mediate with the Woods; members of the Anti-Slavery Society seek to buy her freedom and help her with the wherewithal to live in England, legal counselors decline the likelihood to overturn the Grace precedent, and the amanuensis and Mr. Pringle move to publish Mary’s story into what is today a foundational piece of anti-slavery literature.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2018
This is an important book, but not a simple one to recommend. The edition I read is clearly meant to be assigned reading in a class, but I can hardly imagine the teacher--or even professor--who would dare assign it. We're told that Mary's story was copied down word for word and then "pruned" to exclude her errors and render it intelligible. If only someone had thought to keep the unpruned narrative, too, as a historical document, so that we might hear Mary speak. (I didn't find any evidence that Mary's own words were kept.) We value individual voice now almost above any other narrative attribute, in part because an original way of speaking seems (is?) proof of authenticity, and what's more, I think we assume this is a universal value, but Victorian and Colonial writers insist the opposite. Documents from the period cloak everything, filter everything, shape everything, and hide details behind generalities. The morals of the time insist that you can only tell an improving story if you cut out what offends you, and only an improving story is desirable. And yet, ironically, because this pruned, tremendously painful narrative contains the single most incendiary word of our time, as used by "good" white slave owners--the ones who were nice to Mary instead of horribly abusive--I can imagine the book being thrown out of a syllabus. Does that mean Mary's heart-breaking account served its purpose long ago? Do we not need--still--to hear what she saw and experienced? Should it be pruned and edited again, this time to reflect our definition of what's unspeakable? The book does come with a cautionary note: "This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race have changed before allowing them to read this classic work." If that kind of preface doesn't work on college campuses, where will it work?
December 21, 2010
Unlike many other slave narratives, “The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave Narrative� by Mary Prince retains it very own sense of uniqueness. Her accounts of slavery depict the impacts that slavery had particularly on women. Mary wrote her narrative in order to reveal the latent impact of slavery, to England. Some of her owners would treat her fairly than others. Her detailed account on slavery gets me aroused. If I had the chance to go back to the peculiar institution of slavery era, I would get revenge on all of these volatile slave owners. Mary was able to withstand these harsh treatments by having faith in god. She says “I still live in the hope that God will find a way to give me my liberty� 9 (pg.287.) Ultimately she used religion as a method of determination to escape slavery. Throughout the course of Mary’s narratives, the theme of separation, fear, indifference, determination, and dehumanization is effectively embedded. This narrative provided me with a first hand account of slavery, thus it provided me with more detailed information on slavery. I would recommend this book to all students’s who are searching for more primary sources on slavery. Her narratives are very sad, so prepare to have a box of tissue on your side.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2010
This book is probably the best book I have read so far for this year. It was very touching and it attracted my attention. I do not think that there were any flaws. The author used great imagery throughout the book because I was certainly feeling sick when I read about Hetty, the pregnant slave being beaten to death. This book was very touching and I certainly recommend it to people who are emotional. This book has also enhanced my knowledge on slavery because I learned about how they were treated. The theme that had been presented was humanity. The slave that I felt sympathy for the most was Hetty because she was pregnant and they did not only kill Hetty, but the unborn child as well. This was basically the trait of dehumanization. It was horrible and I felt like a knife was staggered through my heart. I think that killing the unborn child was dehumanization because since they are supposedly “good� Christians, they killed an innocent baby who hasn’t done anything. I also felt bad for Mary when she was often troubled because she broke the jar. Overall, I give this book a 5 star rating because it was just awesome.
May 10, 2020
Mary Prince was born in Bermuda and grew up close to where my grandmother’s house is today. I had no idea the place I spent so much time as a child and an adult had so much significance. I recognise the places she mentions and even some of the family names which are still on the island today.
Of course this book was difficult to get through. Her experiences were harrowing as a slave in the West Indies and Bermuda. Yet her resolve to see a better life herself and to stand up when she had the strength to inspires me 189 years after this book was originally published. Her conviction and her plea to the English public for them to look slavery in the face and recognise it’s own values at home was heartbreaking and astoundingly significant to the movement of abolishing the evil act in the colonies.
This book will always be near to my heart as I, and many other black Bermudians and other decedents of slaves in former or current British colonies, live through her legacy today.
Of course this book was difficult to get through. Her experiences were harrowing as a slave in the West Indies and Bermuda. Yet her resolve to see a better life herself and to stand up when she had the strength to inspires me 189 years after this book was originally published. Her conviction and her plea to the English public for them to look slavery in the face and recognise it’s own values at home was heartbreaking and astoundingly significant to the movement of abolishing the evil act in the colonies.
This book will always be near to my heart as I, and many other black Bermudians and other decedents of slaves in former or current British colonies, live through her legacy today.
August 12, 2023
Read Around the World: Bermuda
Brutally honest and extremely difficult to listen to at times, what amazed me the most, that through it all, the bearings, anger, and mistreatment, Mary never ever lost hope [and though angry [justifiably] at what was happening to her, never let that grow into bitterness]. It was amazing to realize that. She was an amazing woman.
Brutally honest and extremely difficult to listen to at times, what amazed me the most, that through it all, the bearings, anger, and mistreatment, Mary never ever lost hope [and though angry [justifiably] at what was happening to her, never let that grow into bitterness]. It was amazing to realize that. She was an amazing woman.
February 7, 2024
This was just horrendous the way this woman was treated. I don't know what people are thinking when they think that these people in bondage were learning a trade or it was good for them. I've read several histories this month but I don't think I can deal with any more, it is just too depressing.
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November 29, 2023Read for class. I never rate memoirs, but it was very well written. Absolutely devastating though. Her and her family deserved so much better.
November 28, 2010
This book was amazing. The way everything was described made all the words come to life in my mind. I saw everything come to life, and all i could think of was the pain and humiliation I would've felt. I can't imagine being in her place and going through what she went through, I can't imagine staying quiet to a white master if they treated me that way. One thing about this book that amazed me was how Mary saved Miss. D---- from being beaten harshly by her father Mr. D---. I don't understand how Mary could save a white person, but not even dare try saving a black person, even though they were treated much harsher.
The most horrifying thing was the death of Hetty, the slave that was beaten while pregnant and has to give birth to a stillborn. She was so swollen that she had to lay down "till the water burst out of her body and she died. " Page 263. This part literally brought me to tears. I don't understand how someone could be so heartless.
One thing I think Mary Prince should've done was actually say the name of the people, and not hide it so that Mr.D--- and all those other people could be ashamed for there deeds and everyone could see the cruelty of the actual person. I don't think anyone would've minded today.
The most horrifying thing was the death of Hetty, the slave that was beaten while pregnant and has to give birth to a stillborn. She was so swollen that she had to lay down "till the water burst out of her body and she died. " Page 263. This part literally brought me to tears. I don't understand how someone could be so heartless.
One thing I think Mary Prince should've done was actually say the name of the people, and not hide it so that Mr.D--- and all those other people could be ashamed for there deeds and everyone could see the cruelty of the actual person. I don't think anyone would've minded today.
November 22, 2010
Powerful, determined, unapologetic and inspirational definitely sums up Mary Prince’s character. She was a hardworking West Indian slave who wanted to be the primary voice of other slaves while sharing her own gruesome experiences. Mary was beaten and put to shame for the slightest errors. She was denied the right to freedom and liberty. She was in a country far away from her husband and in spite of it all, it did not change her belief that there was a God and he was seeing everything that was being done to her. “I still live in the hope that God will find a way to give me my liberty, and give me back to my husband. I endeavour to keep down my fretting, and to leave all to him, for he knows what is good for me better than I know myself�. (p287) This is an absolute inspiration, because here we have a woman who is experiencing such devastations yet she has the strength to keep her head up and still believe in God. May God bless her soul.
December 21, 2010
The History of Mary Prince is such a great book because it teaches us the morals and values that slaves learned once they went through this hard situations but also it shows us the conflict that woman faced by their masters and what woman went through to get freedoum.Henry Louis Gates jr did such a good job on providing us with elements that actually make us feel like we are in the slaves shoes but also he showed us how the african americans were hated in their socites.But today we are exploring how this idea of hate is still alive and will never live this modern day society and how it will never change also we see how people how this fear of any person who is not american.But you must ask yourself what motivates this fear in people and why do they have this hate toward people who are not american.This book had provided me with an inside look at what motivates people to grow this fear and how it will effect us in the future .
June 13, 2021
"Oh the horrors of slavery!--How the thought of it pains my heart! But the truth ought to be told of it; and what my eyes have seen I think it is my duty to relate; for few people in England know what slavery is. I have been a slave--I have felt what a slave feels, and I know what a slave knows; and I would have all the good people in England to know it too, that they may break our chains, and set us free."
December 16, 2020
A heart wrenching account of a women born into slavery and the suffering she endured from her slave masters. I always remember the parable of Lazarus that Jesus told when I think of slavery.
January 6, 2021
very interesting politically
June 12, 2024
True History
These historical accounts need to be more widely spread. The past isn’t always pretty, but learning these truths are necessary.
These historical accounts need to be more widely spread. The past isn’t always pretty, but learning these truths are necessary.
January 14, 2025
Third time reading this and it never ceases to horrify me in how unfathomably cruel human beings can be toward each other. Bad look for the British Empire
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July 21, 2015Mary Prince was born a slave in Bermuda. She publishes the first narrative in Britain of the life of a black woman.
Mary cannot understand why the color of her skin strips her from living a respectable life. She refuses to accept being treated like an animal because of that. Mary describes the physical and emotional torments she suffered from by the hands of different masters. She declares that they do not consider her like a human being. They use her like sheep bought, exploited, and sold; abused and thrown like a thorn sock.
The message she desired to spread is that she is a human being regardless of the color of her skin. She deserves respect, rights, and freedom as much as others. For her, freedom is being able to enjoy basic needs; she wants to earn her livings and be free to marry and have children and have a place of her own to live in. For her, freedom is not to live in fear of the next whip which will hit her. For her, freedom is to be able to have clean clothes and enough food. For her, freedom is to be able to learn how to write, how to pray, and how to educate herself. Basically for her, freedom is to live comfortably like anybody else.
Mary asks interesting questions: why do Westerners think that black people do not need freedom? Why do they think that black people are happy with being slaves? She wonders if they really believe in the own lies or if they just do not care. She wants to understand why they don’t think that black people hurt when their backs are opened by the whip, why their screams do not reach beaters� hearts?
Mary cannot understand why the color of her skin strips her from living a respectable life. She refuses to accept being treated like an animal because of that. Mary describes the physical and emotional torments she suffered from by the hands of different masters. She declares that they do not consider her like a human being. They use her like sheep bought, exploited, and sold; abused and thrown like a thorn sock.
The message she desired to spread is that she is a human being regardless of the color of her skin. She deserves respect, rights, and freedom as much as others. For her, freedom is being able to enjoy basic needs; she wants to earn her livings and be free to marry and have children and have a place of her own to live in. For her, freedom is not to live in fear of the next whip which will hit her. For her, freedom is to be able to have clean clothes and enough food. For her, freedom is to be able to learn how to write, how to pray, and how to educate herself. Basically for her, freedom is to live comfortably like anybody else.
Mary asks interesting questions: why do Westerners think that black people do not need freedom? Why do they think that black people are happy with being slaves? She wonders if they really believe in the own lies or if they just do not care. She wants to understand why they don’t think that black people hurt when their backs are opened by the whip, why their screams do not reach beaters� hearts?
March 14, 2019
The point when this book bought me undone was right at the end, past the horrors of being a personal punching bag, past the body-breaking decade in the salt mines, past the abusive family. No what brought me undone was the abolitionist's prim certification, by three 'respectable' ladies, who had 'examined' Mary Prince, that her scars were, indeed, present. This woman, whose courage, determination, strength of mind and spirit comes very clearly even through the edited narrative, is reduced to a subject, an object of examination. It is not recorded here what Mary thought of the examination, even whether she was willing. This follows a character reference, which explains to the reader what Mary's skills as a servant are, complete with confessions about her 'temper' as well as her 'honest habits'. Those fighting slavery here are not fighting for recognition of her equality, or humanity. There is charity here, not solidarity.
This book is absolutely worth reading. Despite racist shaping, the narrative is clear and compelling. In the end, Mary's voice, due no doubt to her strong will so dismissed as temper, survives and triumphs. She tells her story.
This book is absolutely worth reading. Despite racist shaping, the narrative is clear and compelling. In the end, Mary's voice, due no doubt to her strong will so dismissed as temper, survives and triumphs. She tells her story.
December 10, 2010
This book was incredible. I love the book and of course I love Mary Prince character, but I hate Mr. and Mrs. Woods. Also, I didn’t like the fact that how Mary was being sold to by the slave owners more than once. In total she was telling what she was going through, she was suffering so much and being treated like object not as human being. She was being treated as object because she was being pass to masters to masters that was so weird and I think that was so unfair. One thing that made me hate Mrs. Wood was she was calling Mary Black devil. In page 280, it said “Mrs. Wood was very angry she grew quite outrageous. She called me black devil.� In my opinion I think with out understanding someone, one shouldn’t call someone devil.
Furthermore, it was extremely heartbreaking, how slave owners beat their slaves like things or object. It is okay to beat them up when they don’t do the work but the thing is that they do all the work, still why they get beat as like thing not as human. It was good to know the story of a slave and especially girl.
Furthermore, it was extremely heartbreaking, how slave owners beat their slaves like things or object. It is okay to beat them up when they don’t do the work but the thing is that they do all the work, still why they get beat as like thing not as human. It was good to know the story of a slave and especially girl.
November 18, 2022
Important read to understand the atrocities and realities of slavery and England’s earlier anti-slavery stance and what it actually meant.
March 6, 2023
I have a problem with the Penguin synopsis saying Mary "was freed," so all I'm gonna say here is that she freed HERSELF, & nobody had anything to do with it except her. that's all thanks
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September 21, 2021For school
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