Austin Steward

author

Austin Steward

1794–1860

Born into slavery in Virginia, he fought his way to freedom and became a businessman, abolitionist, and memoirist whose life story offers a vivid firsthand view of slavery and Black self-determination in the 19th century.

1 Audiobook

Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman

Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman

by Austin Steward

About the author

Austin Steward was born in 1794 in Virginia and was enslaved as a child before being taken to New York. After years of forced labor, he secured his freedom and built a new life in Rochester, where he became a successful businessman.

He was also active in the fight against slavery. Steward supported abolitionist work and later became a leader in the Wilberforce Colony in Canada West, a community connected to Black migration and self-governance.

He is best known for his 1857 memoir, Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman. The book combines the story of his own life with reflections on freedom, race, and community, making him an important voice in African American history.