Slave Narratives

This passage discusses stories told by slaves during the Civil War called slave narratives.

Lexile Level: 620L

Categories: History

Before the Civil War, slaves began to tell their stories. They wrote a new kind of book. These books were called slave narratives. Narrative is another word for story. The slaves' stories helped other people to see the problems that slavery caused. It let the writers tell many people how they were treated. The writers wanted others to help end slavery. The stories were popular and full of drama. Often the writer decided to escape after something awful happened to his or her family. It might be that someone in his or her family was sold. When a slave was sold, the family was torn apart. Whatever the awful event, the writer would see that it was time to runaway. Once in the North, they wrote. Their escapes were daring. However, some did not write a lot about their escapes. They did not want to give away others who were still running away. Many books written by African Americans like Toni Morrison have a link to these slave narratives.