Editing Slave narrative (section)

===Tales of progress===
[[File:SlaveNarrativeTheExperienceOfThomasHJones1871.jpg|thumb|right|Slave narrative of [[Thomas H. Jones]] published in 1871]]

Following the defeat of the slave states of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate South]], the authors had less need to convey the evils of slavery. Some gave a sentimental account of plantation life and ended with the narrator adjusting to the new life of freedom. The emphasis of writers shifted conceptually toward a recounting of individual and racial progress rather than securing [[Freedom (political)|freedom]].

Examples include:
* [[James Mars]], ''The Life of James Mars, A Slave Born and Sold in Connecticut'', [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], 1864
* [[Paul Jennings (slave)|Paul Jennings]], ''A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison'', 1865
* [[William Parker (abolitionist)|William Parker]], ''The Freedman's Story'', published in ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'', 1866
* [[Elizabeth Keckley]], ''Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House'', 1868 
* [[William Still]], ''[[The Underground Railroad (Still)|The Underground Railroad]]'', 1872, recounts the experiences of hundreds of slaves
* [[James Lindsay Smith]], ''Autobiography of James L. Smith'', 1881, published by the ''[[The Bulletin (Norwich)|Norwich Bulletin]]''
* [[Lucy Delaney]], ''[[From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or, Struggles for Freedom]]'', 1892 — this is unique as the only first-person account of a successful [[freedom suit]]
* [[Louis Hughes]], ''Thirty Years a Slave: From Bondage to Freedom'', [[Milwaukee]], 1897
* [[Booker T. Washington]], ''[[Up From Slavery]]'', [[Garden City, New York]], 1901
* [[Sam Aleckson]], ''Before the War, and After the Union: An Autobiography'', Boston, 1929