Born in the U.S.A. (Bruce Springsteen)

History's Best Selling Books of 1859

1. Our Nig

   Released in 1859 by Harriet E. Wilson, George C. Rand and Avery

   Published in 1859, Harriet E. Wilson's "Our Nig; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, In a Two-Story White House, North. Showing that Slavery's Shadows Fall Even There" stands as a monumental work, recognized as the first novel by an African American woman published in North America. Its release just two years before the American Civil War was particularly timely, yet its message was arguably ahead of its time, challenging the romanticized view of the North as a pure haven from the brutalities of Southern slavery. Wilson bravely pulled back the curtain on the often-ignored realities of racial prejudice and indentured servitude experienced by free Black individuals in northern states, making it a critical, albeit initially unappreciated, historical document.