This is the first anthology to bring together the writings of the earliest black women writers in the East and West Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada, the US and England. The selections span the American Revolution to the decade following the Civil War. The nine writers included, both slave and free, represent a variety of genres, regions, professions, and political perspectives. Their words suggest the rich cultural history embedded in the writings, and provide a glimpse into the lives of women coping with extreme racism and sexism. As black women, survival guides the construction of their texts and their public images. Each employs diverse strategies of resistance, evasion, displacement, omission and accommodation. With an introduction that contains copious biographical details about each writer and a brief chronology preceding each text, Nine Black Women is a unique collection of original works.