The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada

by Josiah Henson

"The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada" by Josiah Henson is a slave narrative published in 1849. Dictated to Samuel A. Eliot, this memoir recounts Henson's experiences from childhood through enslavement in Maryland. Born in 1789, Henson witnesses his family's brutal separation and endures plantation life under harsh conditions. A transformative religious awakening reshapes his understanding of his own worth. The narrative would later inspire Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," bringing Henson's story to international attention.