In the 19th century, one of the defining events is the Civil War (1861-65). Around this time, a Women's Liberation Movement began, correlating with the Abolitionists. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female medical student (1848 I think). So these two movements were parallel and encouraged by each other. This is comparable to the Civil Rights Movement a century later in the 1960s, although the 1960s took it to a whole new level - such is the nature, hopefully, of progress. Given that background at least during that time, much of African-American literature in the 19th century was autobiographical/historical or the novel, the prime example being Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. But I think the most significant genre was the slave narrative. I think one of the most important works was Frederick Douglass' Narative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (1845). It gave a lot of authenticity to the Abolition movement because it was so insightful and profound and because it was written by an African-American. (Lots of abolitionist literature was penned by whites). Perhaps even more importantly, Douglass stressed the need for education and literacy. One of his famous quotes, and I'm paraphrasing here, was something along these lines: "The more I read, the more I desire freedom."
This is not the one I'm thinking of, but it fits as well:
"To educate a man is to unfit him to be a slave."
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