author
J. D. (Jacob D.) Green
b. 1813
Born into slavery in Maryland in 1813, this freedom seeker became a lecturer and memoirist whose life story traces three escape attempts before he finally won his liberty. His 1864 narrative offers a direct, powerful account of enslavement, resistance, and self-emancipation.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born on August 24, 1813, in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, Jacob D. Green was enslaved from birth and later taken to Kentucky. After years of brutal treatment and repeated attempts to free himself, he escaped successfully in 1848. He went on to build a new life as a lecturer and writer, speaking publicly about slavery and his experiences.
Green is best known for Narrative of the Life of J.D. Green, a Runaway Slave, from Kentucky, published in Huddersfield, England, in 1864. In it, he recounts his three escape attempts in 1839, 1846, and 1848, along with the violence and injustice he endured under slavery. The book stands as an important firsthand testimony from the era.
Sources agree on the broad outline of his life, though some later details remain uncertain, including exactly when he died. Even so, his memoir and antislavery work preserve the voice of a man who fought hard for freedom and made sure others would hear what slavery was really like.