4. Peter Randolph, Sketches of Slave Life: Or, Illustrations of the ‘Peculiar Institution’ (Boston: By the author, 1855). (35 p.)

Descriptions of the daily routine of a slave by an African American who had been manumitted at the death of his owner in 1844. The pamphlet is divided into two sections, “Slaves on the Auction Block” and “Slaves on the Plantation.” The plantation section contains vignettes describing “colored drivers,” “customs of the slaves, when one of their number dies,” “house slaves,” “deception of the slaveholder,” “food and clothing,” “the hours of work,” “how slaves contrive to get food,” “flogging,” etc.