A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa, but Resident Above Sixty Years in the United States of America, Related by Himself

The first published autobiography by a formerly enslaved person in American history, Venture Smith's 1798 narrative stands as a singular document: the story of a West African prince's son, stolen from his homeland as a child and renamed "Venture" by the man who purchased him for four gallons of rum and a piece of calico. Smith recounts the harrowing Middle Passage, his years of enslavement on Barbados and later in Connecticut, and his ingenious schemes to earn money on the side. Through relentless labor and cunning, he eventually bought his own freedom, then that of his wife and children, becoming one of the few enslaved people in early America to achieve liberation for his entire family. Written in his own words at age 70, this narrative offers an unparalleled window into the transatlantic slave trade from someone who lived it and survived it. It is both a historical record of immense importance and an enduring testament to human dignity and the will to be free.