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Authors, Activists, Abolitionists
from Part I - New Formations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 December 2019
As is very much the case today, the spoken and written word was a critical weapon of persuasion in eighteenth-century political debates. For early black writers, such as Olaudah Equiano, Phillis Wheatley, Ignatius Sancho, and Robert Wedderburn, who fought hard to articulate their respective positions in the fight against slavery, this situation was even more crucial. Using the common eighteenth-century epistolary form, as well as the pamphlet and essay, these authors managed to secure a readership in and established a dialogue with British society, vehemently defending the rights of their communities. This chapter examines the interplay between the different political and literary strategies (genre, style, voice) which early writers of African descent explored to spark debate, penetrate thinking, and persuade their audiences of the passion of their cause and their plea for acceptance and equality.
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