Amos Fortune, Free Man (1950)

Born the son of the King of an African tribe, when he was 15 he was herded up with other village members, shackled and held as cargo in the ship until reaching New England whereupon he was sold on the slavery block.

This is his story from the time he arrived on colonial soil through the years he was a slave who eventually was freed, married and owned property.

This is a story of hope and courage. This is a story of the tragedy of slavery and the bravery of those who bore the burden.

A 1951 Newbery medal book deserving of this honor. ( )

This book was won the 1951 Newbery Medal and I think writing styles have really changed since then. This book is written an omniscient POV which I didn't like. But it is a biography worthy of being told and worthy of being read. The story of Amos' journey as a young African prince captured in 1725 and sold into slavery, taught to be a tanner, and eventually given his freedom where he continued to ply his trade to provide for his family. It is a touching, inspiring story of triumph and the way it is written provides a good glimpse into the Colonial period. ( )

This book is a very good but showing how a once young prince soon to become king of his people in an African Village was taken to become a slave. Amos works hard for his owners and proves that he can learn trade and save money to free slaves by purchasing them. He works hard to earn respect from all men with his skills.

The way that Ms. Yates describes Amos Fortune makes me wish I had known him. He is such a kind and wise and tender-hearted man - a true King. The story is perhaps not as realistic as it might have been in terms of describing the treatment of Black men and women but Ms. Yates focuses on the theme of true freedom - of knowing oneself and God - and it is a peaceful thing to read. ( )

This book won the Newbery Medal in 1951. Mistakenly classified as nonfiction, it is really a biographical novel or, more accurately, historical fiction. Amos Fortune (c. 1710 - 1801) was a real person, but very little is known of his life.

Indeed, in an interview in The Writer in March 1998, author Elizabeth Yates said she was inspired "when I was standing by the stone that marked the grave of Amos Fortune in the old cemetery in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Reading the eloquent though brief words about a man whose life spanned from Africa in 1715 to America in 1801, I wanted to know more, to find the story within those lines."

About all that was available was Fortune's homestead (now private property) and some documents at the Jaffrey Public Library, such as his will (written and signed in 1801), some receipts (for loans, medical services, and purchases, including those that bought the freedom of two wives), two letters of apprenticeship of young men to Amos the tanner, and an unsigned letter of manumission for Amos, written by Ichabod Richardson in 1763. Yates adds another owner and another wife for Amos, as well as a king father and lame sister in Africa, but there is no evidence for any of these.

This book wasn't thrilling, but it wasn't boring either. It provided insights into life in colonial New England. Descriptions of the processes of bark tanning and the vendue of the poor were particularly interesting - the latter was something I'd never heard of before. The audiobook narrator Ray Childs' bass was perfect for Amos Fortune, but not so good for the female voices.

This book has received a lot of criticism, particularly since the early 1970s, for being racist and/or white-supremacist, primarily because Amos is so accepting of his situation. You can read more about this in my post on the book at the Newbery Project. I agree with critics who feel that books with other viewpoints about slavery should be presented along with this book. Suggestions include Paula Fox's The Slave Dancer, (a Newbery winner in 1974), The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Christopher Paul Curtis' Elijah of Buxton (a Newbery Honor Book in 2008), and Julius Lester's To Be A Slave (a Newbery Honor Book in 1969).

In the same 1998 interview mentioned above, Yates tells of a question from a group of fourth-graders:

"'Have you ever regretted anything you've written?' came the next question. Again, I sent my mind back over the years and their books. The answer was at hand, and it was No, for I have had a rule with myself that nothing ever leaves my desk unless it is the best I can

The idea that took hold of me as I stood by that stone in the old churchyard and that became the book Amos Fortune, Free Man was written in 1949 and published a year later. All the pertinent, reliable material that I could find went into the book and became the story. It could not be a biography but an account of a man's life, with facts assured and some imaginative forays based on the temper of the times. The research, the writing, was done long before the Civil Rights upheavals of the 60's. I might today write a very different story, but that was then."

It would be quite interesting to read a different version of Amos Fortune's story, one that might address some of the concerns of the critics.

© Amanda Pape - 2010 ( )