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
Famous quotes containing the words venture and/or smith:
“I will venture to affirm, that the three seasons wherein our corn has miscarried did no more contribute to our present misery, than one spoonful of water thrown upon a rat already drowned would contribute to his death; and that the present plentiful harvest, although it should be followed by a dozen ensuing, would no more restore us, than it would the rat aforesaid to put him near the fire, which might indeed warm his fur-coat, but never bring him back to life.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“I hope there are some who will brave ridicule for the sake of common justice to half the people in the world.”
—Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1891)