Charles Ball

African-American slave from Maryland named Charles Ball is most renowned for his memoir, Slavery in the United States (1836), which details his experiences as a runaway slave. Slavery in the United States: Ball's Autobiography is the main source of information on his life. Charles Ball, a black man, spent forty years as a slave in Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia under many masters. He also spent one year in the navy with Commodore Barney during the late war. His life story was published...See more

African-American slave from Maryland named Charles Ball is most renowned for his memoir, Slavery in the United States (1836), which details his experiences as a runaway slave. Slavery in the United States: Ball's Autobiography is the main source of information on his life. Charles Ball, a black man, spent forty years as a slave in Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia under many masters. He also spent one year in the navy with Commodore Barney during the late war. His life story was published in 1837 with Isaac Fisher's assistance. Charles Muskett released Frances Catherine Barnard's re-edited version of The Life of a Negro Slave in 1846. The life of slaves and their owners in the early 19th century is described in Charles Ball's memoir. The stories of other African Americans that the author knew are included in the book. As a result, it is among the rare works of Western writing from that century that give voice to African experiences. Among them are accounts of religious practices in the region of Africa where Ball's grandfather was born and raised, as well as a young African's account of an encounter with lions in the Sahara desert. Ball's autobiography states that, about 1730, he was sent to Calvert County, Maryland, as a slave from a wealthy African family. See less