Louis Hughes

Originally published in 1897, "Thirty Years a Slave" is a first person account of life as a slave written by Louis Hughes (1832-1913), an American-born slave belonging to a plantation owner in Charlottesville, Virginia. Having learned to read and write in secret, Hughes wrote this memoir and later became a successful businessman. "Thirty Years a Slave" offers a glimpse into the harrowing life of American slaves in the nineteenth century and is highly recommended for those wishing to learn about this dark chapter of American history. Contents include: "Life on a Cotton Plantation", "Social and Other Aspects of Slavery", "Slavery and the War of the Rebellion", "Rebellion Weakening, Slaves' Hopes Strengthening", and "Freedom after Slavery". Read & Co. History is republishing this classic autobiography now in a new addition complete with an introductory chapter by Frederick Douglass.

Louis Hughes was born as an enslaved person in Virginia and at age twelve was sold away from his mother, whom he never saw again. Sold to a wealthy slaveowner, who had a home near Memphis and plantation nearby in Mississippi, Hughes was held in bondage as an enslaved house servant for three decades. Near the end of the Civil War, he escaped to the Union lines with the paid help of two Union soldiers. Hughes later returned to the plantation to liberate his wife, and the couple made their way to safety in Canada. After the war, they traveled to Chicago and Detroit, eventually settling in Milwaukee as free people. There Hughes became relatively comfortable as a hotel attendant and as an entrepreneur laundry operator. Self-educated and eloquent, Hughes wrote and privately published this memoir in 1897. It is a compelling first-hand account of his enslavement and treatment from slaveowners. No reader can be unmoved as Hughes tells about his five attempts to escape or having to stand by helplessly while watching his wife being whipped. He also recounts the joy of finally reuniting with his brother, whom he had not seen since they were little children in Virginia. Hughes's story is a testimony to the human spirit and his courageous act of self-liberation in the face of oppression, injustice, and terror.