Amos Fortune, Free Man

Amos Fortune is the protagonist of the biographical novel Amos Fortune, Free Man. While Fortune was a real historical person (c. 1710-1801), Yates’s account relies heavily on her own imagination due to the scarcity of historical records about Fortune. In the novel, Fortune is born prince At-mun of the (fictional) At-mun-shi people in an unspecified African village. He is captured at the age of 15 and brought via the Middle Passage to be enslaved in Boston. Throughout his enslavement in New England, he becomes a tradesman, enabling him to be a professional tanner when he is finally manumitted around the age of 60. He marries several times but ultimately settles down with his third wife, Violet, and her daughter Celyndia, in a town called Jaffrey. 

Throughout his life, Fortune is characterized as a picture of extreme good character. He is frequently generous; when George the cobbler says he has no more money, Fortune gives him back some of the money he paid him (88). He regularly spends his savings to help others, such as when he purchases the freedom of each of his wives and buys Polly Burdoo at the vendue. In these transactions, he maintains his respect for humanity: “Amos had no other thought than to pay the full price.