Autor/-in: Austin Steward

Austin Steward was an African-American abolitionist, author, and former slave, born in 1793 in Prince William County, Virginia. As a young child, Steward was enslaved but was moved to New York State at the age of seven with the household of Captain William Helm. The family settled in Bath, New York, in 1803, where Steward lived and worked. His early experiences in slavery and the transition to freedom deeply shaped his later activism and writings. After gaining his freedom, Steward became an outspoken advocate for the abolition of slavery and worked tirelessly to promote the rights of African Americans. His most notable work, Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman, chronicles his life as a slave and his subsequent experiences as a free man. Throughout his life, Steward remained committed to the cause of equality and social justice, contributing to the broader abolitionist movement. He died on February 15, 1869, in Canandaigua, New York, at the age of 76, leaving behind a legacy as both a witness to the horrors of slavery and a passionate voice for its end.