- John Jea
John Jea (born 1773) was an African-American slave, best known for his 1811 autobiography, "The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher."
Biography
John Jea was born in
Africa in 1773. He was sold into slavery inNew York with his family, where they worked for a Dutch couple, Oliver and Angelika Triehuen. After learning to read theBible , he was freed and eventually embarked on a journey toBoston ,New Orleans ,South America ,Holland ,France ,Germany ,Ireland andEngland , where he worked as a preacher.He later published his autobiography along with poems, thus being one of the first African-American poets to have written an autobiography."The Signifying Monkey", by Henry Louis Gates, Jr, Oxford University Press, hardcover, page 158]
His autobiography was only rediscovered in 1983.
Bibliography
* "The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher.", 1811.
References
External links
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/jeajohn/menu.html Full text of "The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher."]
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