John Greenleaf Whittier
Am I Not a Man and a Brother?

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Am I Not a Man and a Brother?
Datec. 1837
PlaceNew York, United States
MediumWood engraving on wove paper
Dimensions19 7/8 × 11 3/4 in. (50.5 × 29.9 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by various donors
Object numberB.95.4
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
DescriptionThis broadside was published in response to a February 1837 resolution in the House of Representatives stating that enslaved persons did not possess the right of petition secured to the people by the Constitution. The image of the kneeling enslaved man in chains with the question “Am I not a man and a brother?” had been used by English abolitionists in the late 1700s. American abolitionists used it in the 1800s. Here it is combined with John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem “Our Countrymen in Chains.”
Provenance[Kennedy Galleries, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1995.
Exhibition History"American Made: 250 Years of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, July 7, 2012–January 2, 2013.

"Exhibited As We Are: Fighting Racism with Art in the Age of Slavery," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bayou Bend, April 29–August 16, 2015.

"Imprinted: Illustrating Race," Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, June 11–October 30, 2022.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed on banner, below image: AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER?
Inscribed below text of poem: Sold at the American Anti-Slavery Office, 143 Nassau Street, New-York
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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1800–1850
Silk, gold, and silver thread
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Necklace
late 18th–early 19th century
Gold
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Chain with naga finials
7th–10th century
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Elijah P. Lovejoy (1802–1837) Commemorative Dinner Plate
after 1837
Lead-glazed earthenware with transfer print
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Elijah P. Lovejoy (1802–1837) Commemorative Side Plate
c. 1839
Earthenware with transfer print
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front of object
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Ensemble
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Denim, metallic chain, rhinestones, and crystals
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early 19th century
Glass, ruby-foiled
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Candelabra, one of a pair
early 19th century
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Chandelier
19th century
Glass, ormolu
96.1390
Necklace
Early 20th century
Gold
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Necklace
18th–19th century
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