Amos Fortune, Free Man
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010) |
| Amos Fortune, Free Man | |
|---|---|
 Original cover illustration |
|
| Author(s) | Elizabeth Yates |
| Illustrator | Nora Spicer Unwin |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's novel |
| Publisher | E.P Duntton New York |
| Publication date | 1950 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 181 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-14-034158-7 |
| OCLC Number | 19265732 |
| Dewey Decimal | 974.4/00496073024 B 92 19 |
| LC Classification | E185.97.F73 Y3 1989 |
Amos Fortune, Free Man is a biographical novel by Elizabeth Yates that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1951.[1] It is about a young African prince, who when people come and attack his tribe, is captured and taken to America as a slave. He masters a trade, frees himself by his own efforts and dies a respected citizen.
[edit] Plot
Amos starts out as At-mun, a young African prince, but during a raid on their village by slavers his father, the chief, is killed and At-mun kidnapped and sold in America. Now called 'Amos', he is sold to a man named Caleb Copeland, and though the Copeland family do not treat him badly he rejects his slave status and determines to earn his freedom. He comes to an arrangement with Copeland, but when Caleb dies in debt the arrangement is disregarded, and so Amos is sold again to a man named Ichabod Richardson. Richardson teaches Amos about tanning, and he becomes a skilled worker. He is now about thirty. Amos works for Richardson for four years, then buys his freedom. He marries a woman named Lily, whose freedom he also buys; but she dies a year later. Amos is sad that she died, yet happy she died a free person. Later he marries another African woman named Lydia, and it takes three more years to save up her freedom price. Lydia dies a year later. Again, Amos is sad she died but happy that she died free. He marries a younger woman named Violet, and he buys freedom for her daughter too. Amos moves to Jaffrey, New Hampshire to start his own tanning business there, and does so despite opposition. Eventually Amos saves up enough money that he buys his own land and he builds a house and a barn.
At one point Amos becomes very angry with his wife, who has taken money from him. He climbs a mountain and doesn't leave until he gets an answer from God. Eventually he receives his answer and climbs back down, then forgives his wife as she is sorry for stealing his money. She had done it to keep him from helping a woman named Lois who needed help to keep her children from being taken away. She was lazy and wouldnt support her children,but Amos had pity on her. He decides against helping her and keeps the money. Amos goes to buy the land that he has always wanted. They buy the land and they build a house before winter. They also build a place where Amos can work as a tanner. Tanning is a slow process and takes about 6 months. By the time he is done with all of this he is 80 years old.
The book is based on the life of the real Amos Fortune, who was born free in Africa in around the year 1710 and who died free in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, in 1801.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Door in the Wall |
Newbery Medal recipient 1951 |
Succeeded by Ginger Pye |
| Preceded by (none) |
Winner of the William Allen White Children's Book Award 1953 |
Succeeded by Little Vic |
