Introduction
John Jea (born 1773) was an African-American slave, best known for his 1811 autobiography, The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher.
Biography
John Jea was born in Africa in 1773 near Calabar in the Bight of Biafra. He was sold into slavery in New York City with his family, where they worked for a Dutch couple, Oliver and Angelika Triebuen. After learning to read the Bible, he was freed and eventually embarked on a journey to Boston, New Orleans, South America, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland and England, where he worked as a preacher.
He later published his autobiography along with poems, thus being one of the first African-American poets to have written an autobiography.
His autobiography was only rediscovered in 1983.