William Moraley (1698–1762) was an

Englishman The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...

who emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1729 as an

indentured servant Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repaymen ...

. In his autobiography ''The Infourtunate: or the Voyage and Adventures of William Moraley, Written by Himself'', originally published in 1743, Moraley gives a different view of colonial America, commenting on the lives of slaves, servants and Native Americans, topics not often mentioned by other writers of the time. The book is used in college history courses, contrasting the lives of wealthy landowners and government figures with the lives of common people. It often is taught in conjunction with ''

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin ''The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin'' is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written by Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790; however, Franklin himself appears to have called the work his ''Memoirs''. Although it had ...

''. Moraley describes flora, fauna and life in general as a commoner would, with a non-esoteric vernacular and little respect for scientific details. An edition of this book published in 1992 and edited by Susan E. Klepp and Billy G. Smith has an extensive introduction with biographical information and commentary on the contrast between this work and others of the era.

Sources

* ''The Infortunate: The Voyage And Adventures Of William Moraley, An Indentured Servant'', by William Moraley, edited and with an introduction by Susan E. Klepp and Billy Gordon Smith

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moraley, William 1698 births 1762 deaths 18th-century American writers 18th-century English people American autobiographers History of the Thirteen Colonies American indentured servants English emigrants People of colonial Pennsylvania Writers from Philadelphia English domestic workers