Hi, I wandered in here from a comment on supergee's journal. :) What an amazing letter!! That is an incredible historical document that should be required reading for everyone, for the literary quality as much as for the eye-opening look at a dark period in American history. Jourdon Anderson is a unknown master of diplomacy and wit.

Without following the links about the authenticity of the letter, I can believe that it is genuine. I have read quite a few documents from slaves and former slaves of the colonial and antebellum period (Rhode Island was one point of the Triangle Trade, after all), and they usually have a very high quality of writing. These were educated people (however they obtained it) from an era that valued erudition.