Clotel · Chapter
Preface to the 1853 Edition explained
William Wells Brown introduces his narrative by tracing the history of slavery in America from 1620 to the present, highlighting the complicity of the entire white population—including Northerners and Christians—in maintaining the instituti
What happens
William Wells Brown introduces his narrative by tracing the history of slavery in America from 1620 to the present, highlighting the complicity of the entire white population—including Northerners and Christians—in maintaining the institution. He argues that exposing the system's corruption, especially among the influential and pious, is essential to abolition, and he appeals to British public opinion to pressure the United States.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy of American Democracy
Brown condemns the contradiction of a nation founded on liberty that legally enslaves millions, with the Constitution and Fugitive Slave Law compelling all whites to uphold slavery.
Corruption of Christianity
Brown argues that professed Christians and clergy who own slaves give the system legitimacy, and that true abolition requires exposing their hypocrisy.
Dehumanization and Commodification
Brown notes that every white person, regardless of wealth, can participate in buying and selling slaves, reducing human beings to common property.
Characters to notice
- William Wells Brown
Author and narrator, writing from London to appeal to British readers against American slavery.
Key passages
“The entire white population of the United States, North and South, are bound by their oath to the Constitution, and their adhesion to the Fugitive Slave Law, to hunt down the runaway slave and return him to his claimant, and to suppress any effort that may be made by the slaves to gain their freedom by physical force.”
Every white American, whether from the North or South, is legally and morally obligated by the Constitution and the Fugitive Slave Law to capture escaped slaves and prevent any rebellion.
Brown emphasizes the nationwide complicity in slavery, extending beyond the South.
“Were it not for persons in high places owning slaves, and thereby giving the system a reputation, and especially professed Christians, slavery would long since have been abolished.”
If influential people and Christians did not own slaves and lend respectability to the institution, slavery would have ended long ago.
Brown targets the hypocrisy of religious and political leaders who sustain slavery.
“It does the cause of emancipation but little good to cry out in tones of execration against the traders, the kidnappers, the hireling overseers, and brutal drivers, so long as nothing is said to fasten the guilt on those who move in a higher circle.”
Condemning only the lowest slave traders and overseers is ineffective unless we also blame the elite who profit from and legitimize slavery.
Brown insists on holding the upper classes accountable, not just the brutal enforcers.