“I was an Unruly Slave”: Moses Roper, American Slavery and the Connection to Northumberland

Moses Roper remains an unknown figure in the twenty-first century, despite his immense impact on the transatlantic world during the Victorian period.

For the last 6 years, I have been following the journeys of formerly enslaved African Americans to the British Isles, in an attempt to understand why women and men like Roper crossed the Atlantic, to find out where they visited, who they stayed with, and how they lectured on the Victorian stage. During the nineteenth century, numerous black activists spoke in large cities and small villages across the nation, to educate British audiences about the brutal and inhumane system of American slavery. As escaped fugitives, many sought temporary reprieve from American soil, while others remained in Britain permanently for the rest of their lives. Some gave lectures to raise money for specific antislavery societies on both sides of the Atlantic, or concentrated on raising money to legally purchase the freedom of enslaved family members, or even themselves. Others sought work with varying degrees of success. Black men and women made an indelible mark on society by holding lectures in famous meeting halls, taverns, theatres, churches, and the private parlour rooms of wealthy patrons across the country. They wrote and published narratives, stayed with influential reformers and ensured millions of words were written about them in the Victorian newspapers.

I have attempted to map some of their journeys on my website, www.frederickdouglassinbritain.com. As you will see from Moses Roper’s map, he travelled far and wide, crisscrossing through the rural villages of Cornwall and Wales, all the way to the Scottish Highlands. Nine hundred and eighty-five speaking locations have been mapped for Roper between 1838-1861. Between 1837-1848, he spoke in Baptist, Independent, Methodist and Quaker churches as well as town halls in nearly every county in Britain; in 1844, Roper wrote that he had lectured in over 2,000 towns throughout the country and sold over 25,000 English copies of his narrative, as well as 5,000 in Welsh. According to his listeners, “they [had] never heard a lecture more calculated to enlighten” the public on American slavery.

Roper was born enslaved in North Carolina in 1815, as a result of his enslaved mother’s rape by her white slaveowner. He suffered from extreme acts of torture and violence, and tried to escape (by his count) between 15-20 times; every failed attempt led to severe punishment, and he was thus described as an “unruly slave.” Roper’s courageous resistance eventually paid off, when he finally escaped from a Florida plantation in 1834 and travelled to New York.

Shortly afterwards, Roper came to Britain and conducted extensive lecturing tours until the 1840s, in part making a living by lecturing to audiences about slavery. During his performances, Roper highlighted the cruelties of slavery as well as the hypocrisies of American society. In one lecture, he stated: “You have heard the slave-holders’ story 250 years ago. Now, I think it is time for the slaves to speak. I have published an account of my sufferings and escape, and I have sent a copy of that book to every slave-holder whose name is there mentioned.” (The Leicestershire Mercury and General Advertiser for the Midland Counties, May 19 1838, p.2)

Roper believed it was time for enslaved individuals – and African Americans in general – to tell their side of the story by any means necessary. He had a duty to write and speak on the subject of slavery and convince others of its cruelty, and even took the bold move to send his former slave owner a copy of his autobiography, a symbolic gesture that simultaneously represented his liberty and his desire to shame all those connected with slavery.

Moses Roper in Northumberland

During the early to mid 1840s, Roper spoke in Northumberland several times to packed audiences about American slavery. In February 1846, Roper lectured in Belford, and the local newspaper correspondent wrote that:

“Mr. Moses Roper, an escaped slave, delivered a lecture in the Presbyterian church, Belford, on Wednesday evening week, on the subject of slavery, as existing in the United States of America. The audience was large, and during the delivery of the address, which occupied nearly two hours, the most breathless attention was given while Mr. R. related the monstrous cruelties which he himself had endured in a country professing to be the freest on the face of the earth.” (Berwick and Kelso Warder, 28 February 1846, 3)

In another lecture, the local correspondent described how “the greatest interest was manifested by the audience in the heart-stirring pictures drawn by Mr. Roper of the misery and suffering endured by that unfortunate class of human beings…” The correspondent ended his article with:

“Altogether, considering his bearing and address, and the horrors he has endured in his own person, he excites the greatest interest; and should he give another lecture in Berwick, we would advise our readers who have not yet heard him, to be present. We understand that a narrative of his adventures and escape will in a few days be published, and may be had at the booksellers.” (Berwick and Kelson Warder, 28 February 1846, 3)

The correspondent refers here to Roper’s autobiography. By 1846, Roper had published multiple editions of his slave narrative, first published in 1839. The book was ground-breaking for its use of visual images to depict slavery, including illustrations of chains and instruments of torture that had been enacted upon Roper himself. You can read the 1848 edition of Roper’s narrative online here, which contains a list of some of his speaking locations at the end.

After his last tour of Britain in the early 1860s, Roper returned to America and still lectured sporadically into the 1870s and 1880s. He suffered from illness towards the end of his life, and was found one night at a train station in Boston with his loyal dog by his side. He was taken to hospital, but died shortly afterwards in 1891. We should remember him through his relentless activism against slavery and white supremacy, together with his courageous desire to earn and defend his liberty.

Dr. Hannah-Rose Murray

University of Edinburgh

With thanks to Jane Bowen for her help and support with sourcing documents at Northumberland Archives for my research, and for a short article in the local newspaper.