Clotel facts for kids
Title page, first edition
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| Author | William Wells Brown |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Partridge & Oakey |
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Publication date
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1853 |
| Media type | |
| OCLC | 52765888 |
| 813/.4 22 | |
| LC Class | PS1139.B9 C53 2004 |
| Text | Clotel; or, the President's Daughter at Project Gutenberg |
Clotel; or, The President's Daughter is an important novel written in 1853 by William Wells Brown. He was an American author and playwright. The book tells the story of Clotel and her sister, who are fictional enslaved daughters of Thomas Jefferson.
William Wells Brown himself escaped from slavery in 1834. He published Clotel in London because he was on a lecture tour and couldn't return home. A law called the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 meant he could be recaptured if he went back to the United States. This book is special because it was the first novel ever published by an African American. It shows the harsh effects of slavery on families. It also highlights the difficult lives of mixed-race people in America during the early 1800s.
Contents
The Story Behind the Book
This novel was inspired by rumors from the 1800s. These rumors suggested that Thomas Jefferson, a former U.S. president, had a relationship with an enslaved woman named Sally Hemings. She was said to be of mixed race and looked very light-skinned. Some believed she was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson.
Many enslaved people, including the Hemings family, were inherited by Jefferson. Martha died when Jefferson was 40, and he never remarried. Jefferson never spoke about the rumors. However, he did free four of Hemings's children as they grew up. This was unusual because most of his enslaved people were sold after his death.
William Wells Brown was an escaped slave. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made it very risky for him to be in the United States. This law allowed slave catchers to capture escaped slaves even in free states. So, while on a lecture tour in England in 1849, Brown decided to stay there with his two daughters. He published Clotel in London in 1853. A British couple later bought Brown's freedom in 1854, and he was able to return to the U.S.
What Happens in Clotel?
This, reader, is an unvarnished narrative of one doomed by the laws of the Southern States to be a slave. It tells not only its own story of grief, but speaks of a thousand wrongs and woes beside, which never see the light; all the more bitter and dreadful, because no help can relieve, no sympathy can mitigate, and no hope can cheer.
The story of Clotel mixes history with fiction. It follows the dangerous adventures of Currer, an enslaved mixed-race woman, and her two light-skinned daughters, Clotel and Althesa. In Virginia at that time, a law from 1662 stated that children born to an enslaved mother were also enslaved. This meant Currer's daughters were born into slavery.
After Thomas Jefferson's death, Currer and her daughters are sold.
- Clotel is bought by Horatio Green, a white man. They live together, but they cannot legally marry because of laws against mixed-race marriages. They have a daughter named Mary.
- Currer and Althesa are sold to different owners. Currer eventually dies from yellow fever.
- Althesa marries her white owner, Henry Morton. She is able to do this by passing as a white woman. They have two daughters, Jane and Ellen. Even though Morton supports ending slavery, he doesn't free Althesa or their daughters. After Althesa and Morton die, their daughters become enslaved. Both Jane and Ellen die while enslaved.
Horatio Green later decides to get involved in politics. He leaves Clotel and Mary to marry a white woman. His new wife forces him to sell Clotel and make Mary an enslaved person.
Clotel is sold to a plantation owner in Vicksburg, Mississippi. There, she meets William, another enslaved person. They plan a daring escape. Clotel disguises herself as a white man, and William pretends to be her enslaved person. They travel and reach the free state of Ohio. This escape plan was inspired by a real-life escape by Ellen and William Craft. William continues his journey to Canada, where many escaped slaves found freedom.
Clotel bravely returns to Virginia to try and free her daughter, Mary. She is captured in Richmond and taken to Washington, D.C., to be sold. She escapes again but is chased by slave catchers. Cornered on the Long Bridge, she jumps into the Potomac River and dies.
Thus died Clotel, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson, a president of the United States.
——Narrator of Clotel, Page 182
Mary is forced to work for her father, Horatio Green, and his white wife. She helps her enslaved lover, George, escape from prison. She switches places with him, allowing him to flee dressed as a woman. Mary is then sold to a French man who takes her to Europe. Ten years later, after the Frenchman dies, George and Mary meet by chance in Dunkirk, France. The novel ends with their marriage.
Main Characters in Clotel
- Currer – She is an enslaved woman who works as a laundress. She is the mother of Clotel and Althesa. She tries to gain some freedom for herself and her daughters.
- Clotel – One of Currer's daughters, and a main character. She is sold to Horatio Green and has a daughter, Mary. Clotel makes a brave escape but later returns to try and save Mary.
- Althesa – Currer's other daughter. She marries her white owner by pretending to be white. She has two daughters, Jane and Ellen.
- Mary – Clotel's daughter. She helps her lover, George, escape from prison. She is later taken to Europe and eventually reunites with George.
- George Green – An enslaved man who is Mary's lover. He escapes to Canada and then Great Britain with Mary's help. He later reunites with Mary in France.
- Horatio Green – He buys Clotel and has a daughter, Mary, with her. He later sells Clotel and enslaves Mary after marrying a white woman.
- William – An enslaved mechanic who helps Clotel escape from Vicksburg. He saves money to fund their escape.
Why This Book Is Important
Clotel is very important for several reasons. It was the first novel published by an African American. It also became a guide for many other African-American writers in the 1800s.
The book was the first time an African-American writer showed how slavery went against the idea of freedom and fairness in America. Through Clotel, William Wells Brown introduced the idea of the "tragic mulatto" character into African-American literature. These characters, who were often mixed-race and enslaved, showed the real lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Other writers like Frank J. Webb, Harriet E. Wilson, and Charles W. Chesnutt later developed similar characters.
How the Book Is Written
William Wells Brown wrote Clotel to speak out against slavery, especially for people in Britain. He hoped his book would help convince British people to put pressure on America to end slavery.
The book uses strong emotions, dramatic events, and even newspaper articles to make its point. It was written to damage the "peculiar institution" of slavery. Many chapters start with a quote that highlights the book's main message: that slavery in America harms everyone.
Clotel is told by a narrator who knows a lot about the characters and their feelings. The narrator often teaches moral lessons and uses irony. The story is put together from facts, fiction, and other writings. It uses legends, myths, music, and real stories from escaped slaves. It also includes parts from anti-slavery speeches and writings, newspaper stories, and personal letters.
Images for kids
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Title page, first edition
