Are there first-hand accounts by enslaved people?

The answer

Yes. Autobiographies, interviews, petitions and legal testimony survive, such as the narrative of Olaudah Equiano, published in 1789 and widely read in Britain, and many nineteenth-century narratives. They are valuable evidence but must be read in light of their audience, editors and publication history. Oral histories, songs and archaeology preserved by descendant communities add further perspectives. Because authors wrote for particular readers, compare each account with other evidence and note who published it.