James Watkins (born ), was an African-American author and abolitionist. After managing to escape from slavery, Watkins travelled to the United Kingdom, where he gave several lectures against American slavery.
Watkins was born into slavery as Sam Berry about 1823 on "Mr. Abraham Ensor's plantation, about six miles from Cuckerville, Baltimore Co., Maryland." His mother was Milcah Berry. His father, Amos Salisbury, was the overseer of the plantation. Watkins describes him as a "cruel and severe disciplinarian" who never recognized Watkins as his son. Salisbury died about 1836. In the first edition of his slave narrative, Watkins states, "I well remember how glad I felt at having got rid of such a cruel overseer", but in the second edition that sentence about his feelings at the death of his father is left out.
After the death of his enslaver he was separated from some of his siblings who were sold away, while he and his mother fell into the hands of Luke Ensor, Abraham Ensor's son. In 1841, he tried to run away for the first time, but was caught and severely punished. For three months, his enslaver made him wear an iron collar with bells attached to it. Some time after his failed escape, he stole away at night to attend a Methodist camp meeting. Here, he experienced his conversion and spent many hours in intense prayer, which resulted in his returning late to the plantation. Ensor, having explicitly forbidden his participation, tied him up to whip him, but was unable to strike a single blow when Watkins told him that Jesus would hold him responsible for every blow. The religious experience having increased his longing for freedom, he made a second attempt at escaping in May 1844, succeeding with the help of several Quakers.
To avoid detection by Luke Ensor, he changed his name to James Watkins. He settled in Hartford, Connecticut where he married Mary Eliza and had children. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 convinced him that he was not safe in the United States. Supported by his wife, Watkins sailed to Great Britain, where he began giving abolitionist lectures. While in Britain, Watkins received a letter from his wife who wrote that:
Separated from her husband by thousands of miles, she was an activist in her own right and encouraged her husband to do his duty for the abolitionist cause while she raised their children and looked after their home.
Watkins wrote two versions of his slave narrative, one published in 1852 â Narrative of the Life of James Watkins - the second one in 1860, entitled Struggles for Freedom. He also published a poetry book in Manchester in 1859. Watkins was a strong supporter of the free produce movement, and regularly called on the British public in his lectures to avoid purchasing or consuming goods from the U.S. which were made with enslaved labor. During his lectures, Watkins frequently showed instruments of torture, recounted stories of failed escape attempts, and occasionally sang songs at the close of such lectures. He spoke in over 1,000 locations around Britain and Ireland between 1852 and 1862 (see a map of his speaking locations in the references).
In October 1853, he lectured in Wolverhampton where the newspaper reported noted:
In Sheffield in July 1854, Watkins delivered another speech that was captured at great length by a newspaper reporter. Watkins declared:
His activist wife, Mary Eliza, followed him to Britain after some time, but became ill and returned to Connecticut on medical advice.
Little is known about his later life and death. Snodgrass gives his birth and death dates as "ca. 1821 â ?" and ending with the publication of his 1860 memoir. Other sources suggest he may have returned to live in the US on the SS Nevada in 1869, and was listed in the 1880 census for Baltimore, Maryland aged 51.