Amos Fortune, Free Man
 Original cover illustration | |
| Author | Elizabeth Yates |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Nora Spicer Unwin |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | E. P. Dutton, New York |
Publication date | 1950 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 181 |
| ISBN | 0-14-034158-7 |
| OCLC | 19265732 |
| 974.4/00496073024 B 92 19 | |
| LC Class | E185.97.F73 Y3 1989 |
Amos Fortune, Free Man is a biographical novel by Elizabeth Yates that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1951.[1] It is about a young African prince who is captured and taken to America as a slave. He masters a trade, purchases his freedom and dies free in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, in 1801.
Amos Fortune, a young African prince of a tribe called the At-mun-shi, was born free in Africa in 1710. He lives a peaceful life until a raid on their village by slavers kills his father, the chief. At-mun is kidnapped, transported to America via the White Falcon (a slave ship), and sold in New England. Now called 'Amos', he is sold to a man named Caleb Copeland, and though the Copeland family do not treat him badly he rejects his slave status and determines to earn his freedom. He comes to an arrangement with Copeland, but when Caleb dies in debt the arrangement is disregarded, and so Amos Fortune is sold again to a man named Ichabod Richardson. Richardson teaches Amos about tanning, and he becomes a skilled worker. He is now about thirty. Amos works for Richardson for four years, then buys his freedom. He marries a woman named Lily, whose freedom he also buys; but she dies a year later. Amos is sad that she died, yet happy she died a free woman. Later he marries another African woman named Lydia, and it takes three more years to save up her freedom price. Lydia dies a year later. Again, Amos is sad she died but happy that she died free. He marries a younger woman named Violet, and he buys freedom for her daughter too. Amos moves to Jaffrey, New Hampshire to start his own tanning business there, and does so despite opposition. Eventually Amos saves up enough money that he buys his own land and he builds a house and a barn.
At one point Amos becomes very angry with his wife, who has taken money from him. He climbs Mt. Monadnock and does not leave until he gets an answer from God. Eventually he receives his answer and climbs back down, then forgives his wife as she is sorry for stealing his money. She had done it to keep him from helping a woman named Lois who needed help to keep her children from being taken away. She was lazy and would not support her children, but Amos had pity on her. He decides against helping her and keeps the money. Amos goes to buy the land that he has always wanted. They buy the land and they build a house before winter. They also build a place where Amos can work as a tanner. At this point in his life, he is 80 years old.
The real Amos Fortune
As a child, Amos Fortune was the leader of a gang of juvenile delinquents. Later, as an adult, he became obsessed with luck, both good and bad, and discovered the existence of "luck glands" that dictate how a person's luck will run. Upon learning how to control these "luck glands" to manipulate his luck, he gathered his old gang and created the original Royal Flush Gang who battled the Justice League on two occasions. Professor Fortune first met the Justice League trying to remove their "good luck" but was defeated. He remained primarily an enemy of the Justice League, and acted as the leader of the Royal Flush Gang, though he abandoned them soon after.
He later set up the Royal Flush Gang again, making major profits by working with Roulette and her gambling operation. The sent out completely new hands and pips after major museums and casinos. Fortune showed no hesitation to kill his own employees, and he killed several via a kill switch in their gear. After the Justice League foiled his operation, Fortune managed to get away. He escaped to a river boat on the Mississippi, where he was shot at close range by the widow of a discarded card, Two of Clubs.
| last = Lambert | first = Peter | title = Amos Fortune, The Man and His Legacy | url= http://www.scribd.com/doc/91569565/Amos-Fortune-The-Man-and-His-Legacy | publisher = Amos Fortune Forum | location = Jaffrey, NH | year = 2000 }}</ref>
References
External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Door in the Wall |
Newbery Medal recipient 1951 |
Succeeded by Ginger Pye |
| Preceded by (none) |
Winner of the William Allen White Children's Book Award 1953 |
Succeeded by Little Vic |