Quobna Ottobah Cugoano was kidnapped by slave traders when he was 13 years-old in Africa in the late 1700s and taken to England. (His slave name was John Stuart.) After experiencing much cruelty and suffering, he finally got his freedom and learned to read and write.
These quotations come from his book: Thoughts And Sentiments On The Evil And Wicked Traffic Of The Slavery And Commerce Of The Human Species, Humbly Submitted To The Inhabitants Of Great Brittain which was published in 1787.
“I was brought from a state of innocence and freedom, and in a barbarous and cruel manner, conveyed to a state of horror and slavery.” QOC
“How wonderful is the divine goodness displayed in the Old and New Testaments! O what a treasure to have and to be able to read therein.” QOC
“Those men that are the procurers and holders of slaves are the greatest villains in the world. They must be lost to all sensibility thinking that the stealing, robbing, enslaving, and murdering of men are not crimes.” QOC
“If a man have not love in his heart for his fellow creatures, all his other virtues are not worth a straw.” QOC
“The destroyers and enslavers of men can not be Christians, for Christianity is the system of love, and its followers are devoted to honesty, justice, humanity, meekness, peace, and good will to all men.” QOC
“Good soldiers of Jesus Christ have many battles to fight with their unbelief, with the perverseness of their nature, with evil temper, and with besetting sins.” QOC