The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave, Related by Herself is an autobiographical recount of the life of Mary Prince, a woman born into slavery in Bermuda around 1788. Published in 1831, Prince’s autobiography provided a firsthand account of the horrors of slavery and exposed the sadistic and cruel nature of her previous masters. Mary Prince became the first Black woman to publish in Great Britain, and her bravery in sharing her story was a catalyst in the anti-slavery movement, as she makes an explicit call to action, “I have been a slave—I have felt what a slave feels, and I know what a slave knows, and I would have all the good people in England know it too, that they may break our chains, and set us free” (Prince 11). Two years after History was published, An Act for the Abolition of Slavery was established. This stated that “all such persons should be manumitted [freed by their enslaver] and set free and that a reasonable Compensation should be made available to the Persons hitherto entitled to the Services of such Slaves” (NationalArchives). 

Prince's narrative begins with her childhood, which she describes as “the happiest period of my life; for I was too young to understand rightly my condition as a slave, and too thoughtless and full of spirits to look forward to the days of toil and sorrow” (Prince 1). Prince describes life after she was sold from her family, consisting of violent and senseless physical abuse and sexual assault she endured at the hands of various masters.

 Her autobiography was popular, printing three editions within the year it was published, but it was not well received by all. James Macqueen, an anti-emancipation writer of Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, questioned the validity of Prince’s story, describing it as a “specimen[s] of the hideous falsehoods and misrepresentations which are advanced against the colonists by their enemies of this country” (Macqueen 744). Macqueen then describes Prince herself as a “despicable tool” (744) of Thomas Pringle’s–Secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society and editor of Prince’s autobiography–and claims that Prince’s story was published for the sole purpose of “destroying the character of two respectable individuals, her [Prince] owners, Mr and Mrs Wood of Antigua” (744). 

During her time with the Woods, Prince’s last owners, she began to experience rheumatism from her years of grueling and relentless labor. “I soon fell ill of the rheumatism, and grew so very lame that I was forced to walk with a stick. I got the Saint Anthony's fire, also, in my left leg, and became quite a cripple” (Prince 14). Nonetheless, Prince was still expected to work, and was threatened with violence if she did not work to the satisfaction of the Woods.

Prince’s rheumatism is not the only instance of the toll forced labor took on her body. Earlier in her autobiography, Prince recounts the moment “He [Capt. Ingham] came to me, and without any more ado, stooped down, and taking off his heavy boot, he struck me such a severe blow in the small of my back, that I shrieked with agony, and thought I was killed; and I feel a weakness in that part to this day” (Prince 8). Not only that, but in the postscript of the second edition of History, Pringle states that, “Mary Prince has been afflicted with a disease in the eyes, which, it is feared, may terminate in total blindness” (Prince ii). It is hypothesized that Mrs. Ingham is responsible for Prince’s partial blindness from her aimed blows to Prince’s head and face (Gale 2023).

The exploitation of labor and disregard of employers comes in many forms, and can be connected to modern day controversies like Shein factories. Where Mary Prince was working in the salt ponds of Turks Island from sunrise to sunset, resulting in, “dreadful boils, which eat down in some cases to the very bone, afflicting the sufferers with great torment” (Prince 10), Shein employees are scheduled intermittently, “from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the morning; then from 1.30 p.m. to 5.45 p.m.; and then in the evening from 7 p.m. to 10 or 10.30 p.m.” (Kollbrunner 2021), adding up to over 75 working hours per week. The employers who only iron the clothes “in constant heat, due to the steam, and can seldom sit down” (Kollbrunner 2021). This is only one example of the unregulated labor practices and the disregard for the safety and wellbeing of employees. Despite the fact that Mary Prince’s story and the working conditions of Shein factories are on different points of the exploitation spectrum, they still fall on that spectrum nonetheless.

Sources Cited

Primary:

Prince, Mary. “The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave. Related by Herself. With a Supplement by the Editor. To Which Is Added, the Narrative of Asa-Asa, a Captured African: Electronic Edition.” Mary Prince. The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave. Related by Herself. with a Supplement by the Editor. to Which Is Added, the Narrative of Asa-Asa, a Captured African., 2000, docsouth.unc.edu/neh/prince/prince.html. 

Macqueen, James. “Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine 1831-11: Vol 30 ISS 187.” Internet Archive, Blackwood Pillans and Wilson, 1 Nov. 2021, archive.org/details/sim_blackwoods-magazine_1831-11_30_187/page/744/mode/2up.

Secondary:

"Mary Prince." Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Gale, 2023. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1603001574/BIC?u=iulib_iupui&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=3e353b8c.

Extras:

“The 1833 Abolition of Slavery Act and Compensation Claims: Collection Highlights.” The National Archives, beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/explore-by-time-period/georgians/1833-abolition-of-slavery-act-and-compensation-claims/. 

Kollbrunner, Timo. “Toiling Away for Shein.” 19 Nov. 2021, stories.publiceye.ch/en/shein/.