Cody G Fuston

CEI 518.30
Literature of American Slavery
Prof. Brown
Mid-Term Essay
September 25, 2010
Word Count:
Total: 2,149
W/O Long Quotes: 1,481

Multiple Personalities

Slavery, persecution, and dehumanization were once a fact of life in Antebellum

America. In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed making it legal for slave-hunters to

work with state agencies to collect and return escaped slaves back to their owners. In

1851, Harriet Beecher Stowe, a Calvinist writer, published the highly acclaimed Uncle

Tom’s Cabin, “the greatest fiction success of the nineteenth century”, and created more of

a demand for slave fiction than ever before (Kazin vii). Then in 1853 came William

Wells Brown’s novel Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter: A Narrative of a Slave Life

in the United States which was published in England after Brown fled America due to the

Fugitive Slave Act. Over the next two decades Brown would revisit and revise the novel

three more times, the remaining versions published in the United States. Between

December 1860 and March 1861 came the first altered version of Clotel in the American

newspaper The Weekly Anglo-African titled Miralda; or, The Beautiful Quadroon: A

Romance of American Slavery Founded on Fact, excluding the scenes with the ex-

president Thomas Jefferson due to American sentiment (Sommers 9, 30-31). The third

version of Clotel brought a more similar version to Miralda called Clotelle: A Tale of the

Southern States which was specifically out-fitted for the American Civil War and “part
 Fuston 2

of James Redpath’s dime-novel series, ‘Books for the Camp Fires’” and portraying a

cover with Union Soldiers reading around a campfire (Sommers 31). The last of the four

Clotel versions came in 1867 and named Clotelle; or, The Colored Heroine: A Tale of the

Southern States. The two versions which will be analyzed in this essay will be the 1853

version, published before the Civil War, and the 1867 version, published after the Civil

War. For clarification, for the remainder of the essay, I will refer to the two versions as

such: ‘53 Clotel and ‘67 Clotelle. By analyzing parts of Brown’s similitude in the ‘53 and

‘67 editions of his novel and contrasting the same versions a greater understanding can be

gained in the mindset of not only Brown and his publishing counterparts but also in the

mindset of the general expectations and perspectives of the general population

concerning slavery, both before and after the American Civil War of 1861-1865 and the

passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, in 1865.

To begin, in the 1850s slavery was beginning to lose popularity and abolitionists

were gaining ground on swaying public opinion to adopt a slave-free country. Uncle

Tom’s Cabin sold 10,000 copies in its first week and 300,000 copies in its first year,

adding proof to the general public’s opinion that slavery was becoming outdated (Stowe

inside cover). William Wells Brown, soon after the release of Uncle Tom’s Cabin,

publishes ‘53 Clotel denouncing slavery with dramatic scenes of slaves being torn from

their families and being sold on the auction block, despite the light complexion of their

skin. Brown writes in ‘53 Clotel:

“The appearance of Clotel on the auction block created a deep sensation

amongst the crowd. There she stood, with a complexion as white as most
of those who were waiting with a wish to become her purchasers; her
features as finely defined as any of her sex of pure Anglo-Saxon; her long
black wavy hair done up in the neatest manner; her form tall and graceful,
and her whole appearance indicating one superior to her position” (121).
 Fuston 3

And in the ‘67 Clotelle Brown substitutes the name of Clotel, the president’s

daughter, with Isabella, the mother of Clotelle and the mistress of Linwood, while

keeping the horrific scene identifiable to its earlier form:

"All eyes were now turned on Isabella, as she was led forward by the
auctioneer. The appearance of the handsome quadroon caused a deep
sensation among the crowd. There she stood, with a skin as fair as most
white women, her features as beautifully regular as any of her sex of pure
Anglo-Saxon blood, her long black hair done up in the neatest manner, her
form tall and graceful, and her whole appearance indicating one superior
to her condition" (Brown Chapter Two-Web).

What is interesting about these two specific passages is that there was still a need to

include these images of a white-toned slave in the ‘67 version to the public, two full years

after the Civil War had united the nation and slavery was abolished. However, Brown’s

intent would be to remind the American public that slavery was not dictated only upon

the dark-toned people but also upon individuals who had skin as white as their slave

owners, hence the strong reaction from the crowd, because any buyer looking upon the

handsome white-skinned quadroon could imagine themselves up on the auctioneer’s

platform.

Another example of the similitude of the two novels are the deaths of Clotel and

Isabella. In the ‘53 Clotel Brown describes the event as thus:

“But God by his Providence had otherwise determined. He had determined

that an appalling tragedy should be enacted that night, within plain sight of
the President's house and the capitol of the Union, which should be an
evidence wherever it should be known, of the unconquerable love of
liberty the heart may inherit; as well as a fresh admonition to the slave
dealer, of the cruelty and enormity of his crimes… Seeing escape
impossible in that quarter, she stopped suddenly, and turned upon her
pursuers… Her resolution was taken. She clasped her hands convulsively,
and raised them, as she at the same time raised her eyes towards heaven,
and begged for that mercy and compassion there, which had been denied
 Fuston 4

her on earth; and then, with a single bound, she vaulted over the railings of
the bridge, and sunk for ever beneath the waves of the river!

“Thus died Clotel, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson, a president of the

United States; a man distinguished as the author of the Declaration of
American Independence, and one of the first statesmen of that country”
(Brown 258).

In the ‘67 Clotelle Brown similarly describes the event as thus:

“But God, by his providence, had otherwise determined. He had ordained

that an appalling tragedy should be enacted that night within plain sight of
the President's house, and the Capitol of the Union, which would be an
evidence wherever it should be known of the unconquerable love of
liberty which the human heart may inherit, as well as a fresh admonition to
the slave-dealer of the cruelty and enormity of his crimes… Seeing how
vain would be any further effort to escape, her resolution was instantly
taken. She clasped her hands convulsively together, raised her tearful and
imploring eyes toward heaven, and begged for the mercy and compassion
there which was unjustly denied her on earth; then, exclaiming, ‘Henry,
Clotelle, I die for thee!’ with a single bound, vaulted over, the railing of
the bridge, and sank forever beneath the angry and foaming waters of the
river!

“Such was the life, and such the death, of a woman whose virtues and
goodness of heart would have done honor to one in a higher station of life,
and who, had she been born in any other land but that of slavery, would
have been respected and beloved. What would have been her feelings if
she could have known that the child for whose rescue she had sacrificed
herself would one day be free, honored, and loved in another land?”
(Brown Chapter XVI-Web)

The state of both protagonists suggests that death was more desired than one more

moment in the clutches of slavery; heaven, at last, would reward freedom.

Brown, in 1867, would further contemplate the depilated state of the ex-

slaves. On January 25, 1867 Brown gave a speech which was later published in

February and was meant for “the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-

Slavery Society in Mercantile Hall”:

 Fuston 5

“Mr. Wm. Wells Brown said he did not think that the people here
understood the position of the colored people of the South. He went into a
long argument, showing that their condition was vastly worse than before
their emancipation. The negroes had been armed under a promise of
freedom, and now that freedom was withheld. He did not believe the
action of Congress [in failing to act sooner than it did to safeguard the
rights of the freedmen] was intentional, but owing entirely to
mismanagement and the contemptible meanness of the President. The only
safeguard of the race was in impartial suffrage” (Farrison 404).

Although slaves had been freed a need to improve the livelihood of the freed slaves was

evident in Brown’s speech and hence the need to publish the ‘67 Clotelle in order to

remind the public how difficult the life of a slave had been and illustrate how even harder

life was after the Civil War.

On the other hand, Brown did make changes between the ‘53 Clotel and the ‘67

Clotelle to accommodate the changes which had taken place in the general population’s

mindset concerning slavery after the Civil War. The Union was now one and slavery was

abolished; but as mentioned above, there was still a need for slave literature in order to

improve the lives of the African Americans who had been set free. As inferred earlier,

Brown transplants the main character in the ‘53 Clotel, the president’s daughter, with the

name of Isabella, mistress of Linwood and the mother to Clotelle. Furthermore, the ‘67

Clotelle’s plot continues the story onward beyond the ‘53 Clotel’s ending. In the ‘67

Clotelle, Clotelle, the colored heroine, grows up to escape to France and becomes a free

woman through marriage. The ‘53 story ends with Clotel, still a slave, leaping from the

bridge (as illustrated earlier in the essay) and the ‘67 story builds upon the life of the free

slave, Clotelle, providing a glimpse of a freed slave’s hopes and dreams coming true- if

given the chance.

 Fuston 6

In addition to these subtle changes, Brown makes some organizational and lexical

changes to his story. In the ‘53 Clotel, Brown has twenty-nine chapters compared to the

‘67 Clotelle with thirty-five chapters, with more of the latter plot being directly related to

a life of a freed slave versus the former plot being strictly bound to the life of a slave.

Likewise, in the earlier edition of Brown’s novel, the use of the word “freedom” appears

thirty-seven times and the use of the word “slavery” emerges fifty-nine times. In the ’67

edition, during the American Reconstruction, Brown uses these two words scarcely:

“freedom” is written roughly thirteen times and “slavery” comes out only seventeen

times. The apparent discrepancy in the use of both these words is probably due to the fact

that slavery was still in existence during the earlier publication and a need for stressing

these two issues would have been a required necessity, while the latter version would not

require much emphasis on “freedom” and “slavery” but rather a need to remind the

general population about the hardships that the African Americans had suffered during

and after slavery.

Lastly, the ‘53 Clotel was published in England and mainly for the British. The

‘67 edition was published in America for Americans. Brown comments on his ‘53 Clotel

being an issue which the British government should take notice of “since slavery had

been introduced into the American colonies while they were controlled by the British

government” and that “Englishmen should feel a lively interest in its abolition… and

thereby aid in bringing British influence to bear upon American slavery” (Farrison 216).

The ‘67 Clotelle would have had an alternative purpose, one being to remind the general

population of the existing scars the freed slaves would still have been afflicted by and not
 Fuston 7

entirely to bring about the end of slavery, as the first edition was designed and written to

specifically do.

In conclusion, William Wells Brown will likely be remembered as one of the

greatest African American writers of any generation due to his ability and to aid his

fellow man in abolishing that evil act which long held him captive. Brown accomplishes

to sway his reading audience by purposefully designing two novels in order to achieve

two desired results: the ‘53 Clotel was meant to sway British influence to assist in the

abolition of American slavery, while the ‘67 Clotelle was written to remind the general

American population of the hardships slaves had undergone before the Civil War and the

struggles which still faced the freed slaves during the Reconstruction effort of the late

1860s. In sum, it is cogent that the latter version provides a brighter chronicle, granting a

more cheerful and happier ending than its predecessor which was published during the

dark times of slavery; but both editions, as well as the other two, will continue to remind

the unified states of America of its dark past and of the bright future of our country’s

people.
 Fuston 8

Works Cited:

Brown, William Wells. “Clotel.” Three Classic African-American Novels. Ed. William L.
Andrews. New York: Mentor, 1990. 72-283. Print.

---. Clotelle; or, The Colored Heroine: A Tale of the Southern States. Fiction: The E-
Server Collection. 1994-2010. Web. 25 Sept. 2010.
[Link: http://fiction.eserver.org/novels/clotelle.html ]

Farrison, William Edward. William Wells Brown: Author & Reformer. Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 1969. Print.

Kazin, Alfred. Introduction. Uncle Tom’s Cabin. By Stowe. New York: Bantam Dell,
2003. vii-xvi. Print.

Sommers, Samantha Marie. A Tangled Text: William Wells Brown’s Clotel (1853, 1860,
1864, 1867). BA Thesis. Wesleyan University, April, 2009. Print.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom’s Cabin. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. Print.