The Desperate Negro

This story was first published in the United States in the late eighteenth century. It is grouped by scholars as an "anti-slavery" narrative. How closely this 1828 edition follows earlier ones, I do not know. It concerns a slave called Quashi who is a lifelong friend of his master with whom he grew up and who inherited the plantation. In a fight with his master, he cuts his own throat in order to avoid the shame of being whipped by his master. Priced at threepence, "The Portfolio, OF AMUSEMENT AND INSTRUCTION IN History, Science, Literature, the Fine Arts, &c." cost too much to be called a "Penny Dreadful", a slightly later type of popular story paper, but it shares the sensationalism of the Penny Dreadful.

The Portfolio No. 130 Nov. 1,1828 Price 3d.

"The Desperate Negro" conclusion