Venture Smith (1729–1805) was an African captured as a child and transported to the American colonies colonies to be sold as a slave. As an adult, he purchased his freedom and that of his family. His history was documented when he gave a narrative of his life to a schoolteacher, who wrote it down and published it under the title A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa: But Resident above Sixty Years in the United States of America, Related by Himself.
Read more about Venture Smith: Early Life, A Slave in Colonial America, A Free Man, DNA Project
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