John Jea
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John Jea (b. 1773) was an African-American slave, best known for his 1811 autobiography, The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher.
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[edit] Biography
John Jea was born in Africa in 1773. He was sold into slavery in New York with his family, where they worked for a Dutch couple, Oliver and Angelika Triehuen. After learning to read the Bible, he was freed and eventually embarked on a journey to Boston, New Orleans, South America, Holland, France, Germany, Ireland and England, 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.[1]
His autobiography was only rediscovered in 1983.[1]
[edit] Bibliography
- The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher., 1811.
