Project Gutenberg 2004-02-01 Public domain in the USA. 129 Steward, Austin 1794 1860 Steward, A. (Austin) Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman Embracing a Correspondence of Several Years, While President of Wilberforce Colony, London, Canada West Etext produced by William A. Pifer-Foote and PG Distributed Proofreaders HTML file produced by David Widger "Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman" by Austin Steward is a historical account written in the mid-19th century. The book recounts the author's experiences as a slave on a Virginia plantation and his subsequent life as a free man. Steward's narrative provides a poignant insight into the brutal realities of slavery, the cruelty inflicted on enslaved people, and his journey toward freedom and activism against the institution of slavery. At the start of the book, Steward introduces himself as a slave born in Virginia, sharing vivid and harrowing details of slave life on the plantation owned by Captain William Helm. He describes the harsh living conditions, insufficient provisions, and the brutal punishments meted out by the overseer. As a child slave, he endures extreme cruelty but also longs for knowledge and freedom. He is later moved to the "great house" to serve his master's family, where he witnesses both the lifestyles of his masters and the contrasting misery of his fellow slaves. This opening portion sets the stage for Steward's compelling narrative that melds personal struggle with a broader commentary on the evils of slavery. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 61.3 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Steward, Austin, 1794-1860 Fugitive slaves -- Biography Slavery -- Virginia Wilberforce Colony E300 Text Slavery African American Writers Category: Biographies Category: History - Other Category: History - American Category: History - Modern (1750+) 557791 2025-07-05T06:31:34.856613 text/html 541629 2024-10-28T18:27:49 text/html 294270 2025-07-05T06:31:43.933585 application/epub+zip 302078 2025-07-05T06:31:38.532607 application/epub+zip 270807 2025-07-05T06:31:37.204597 application/epub+zip 582611 2025-07-05T06:31:48.248577 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 542172 2025-07-05T06:31:43.021563 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 371788 2022-09-05T11:51:09.955329 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 490016 2023-10-05T08:21:55.949913 text/plain 470201 2024-10-28T18:27:49 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17035 2025-07-05T06:31:48.370533 application/rdf+xml 19251 2025-07-05T06:31:37.709572 image/jpeg 4171 2025-07-05T06:31:37.454571 image/jpeg 285075 2025-07-05T06:31:34.900619 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia