Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Read online

  Table of Contents

  FROM THE PAGES OF NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  FREDERICK DOUGLASS

  THE WORLD OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS AND NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK ...

  Introduction

  PREFACE

  LETTER FROM WENDELL PHILLIPS, ESQ.

  CHAPTER I

  CHAPTER II

  CHAPTER III

  CHAPTER IV

  CHAPTER V

  CHAPTER VI

  CHAPTER VII

  CHAPTER VIII

  CHAPTER IX

  CHAPTER X

  CHAPTER XI

  APPENDIX

  INSPIRED BY NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE

  COMMENTS & QUESTIONS

  FOR FURTHER READING

  FROM THE PAGES OF NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE

  I am going away to the Great House Farm! O, yea! O, yea! O!

  (page 25)

  I have sometimes thought that the mere hearing of those songs [of the slaves] would do more to impress some minds with the horrible character of slavery, than the reading of whole volumes of philosophy on the subject could do.... To those songs I trace my first glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery. I can never get rid of that conception. Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds. (page 26)

  From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace; and in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom.

  (page 39)

  There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being, and were all subjected to the same narrow examination. Silvery-headed age and sprightly youth, maids and matrons, had to undergo the same indelicate inspection. At this moment, I saw more clearly than ever the brutalizing effects of slavery upon both slave and slaveholder.

  (page 49)

  I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute! (page 63)

  You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man. (page 64)

  My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact. I did not hesitate to let it be known of me, that the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me. (page 69)

  I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,—a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,—a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,—and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection. Were I to be again reduced to the chains of slavery, next to that enslavement, I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me. For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. (page 72)

  Let us render the tyrant no aid; let us not hold the light by which he can trace the footprints of our flying brother. (page 89)

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  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave was first

  published in 1845 by the Anti-Slavery Office.

  Published in 2003 by Barnes & Noble Classics with new Introduction,

  Notes, Biography, Chronology, Comments & Questions,

  and For Further Reading.

  Introduction, Notes, and For Further Reading

  Copyright @ 2003 by Robert O‘Meally.

  Note on Frederick Douglass, The World of Frederick Douglass and Narrative of the

  Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Inspired by Narrative of the Life of

  Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, and Comments & Questions

  Copyright © 2003 by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

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  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

  ISBN-13: 978-1-59308-041-9 ISBN-10: 1-59308-041-7

  eISBN : 978-1-411-43276-5

  LC Control Number 2003108031

  Produced and published in conjunction with

  Fine Creative Media, Inc.

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  Michael J. Fine, President and Publisher

  Printed in the United States of America

  QM

  9 10 8

  FREDERICK DOUGLASS

  Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born a slave in Tuckahoe, Maryland, in February 1818. He became a leading abolitionist and women’s rights advocate and one of the most influential public speakers and writers of the nineteenth century.

  Frederick’s mother, Harriet Bailey, was a slave; his father was rumored to be Aaron Anthony, manager for the large Lloyd plantation in St. Michaels, Maryland, and his mother’s master. Frederick lived away from the plantation with his grandparents, Isaac and Betsey Bailey, until he was six years old, when he was sent to work for Anthony.

  When Frederick was eight, he was sent to Baltimore as a houseboy for Hugh Auld, a shipbuilder related to the Anthony family through marriage. Auld’s wife, Sophia, began teaching Frederick to read, but Auld, who believed that a literate slave was a dangerous slave, stopped the lessons. From that point on, Frederick viewed education and knowledge as a path to freedom. He continued teaching himself to read; in 1831 he bought a copy of The Columbian Orator, an anthology of great speeches, which he studied closely.

  In 1833 Frederick was sent from Auld’s relatively peaceful home back to St. Michaels to work in the fields. He was soon hired out to Edward Covey, a notorious “slave-breaker” who beat him brutally in an effort to crush his will. However, on an August afternoon in 1834, Frederick stood up to Covey and beat him in a fight. This was a turning point, Douglass has said, in his life as a slave; the experience reawakened his desire and drive for liberty.

  After a failed escape attempt, Frederick was sent back to Baltimore, where he again worked for Hugh Auld, this time as a ship caulker. In Baltimore he met and fell in love with Anna Murray, a free black woman.

  In 1838 Frederick Bailey escaped from slavery by using the papers of a free seaman. He traveled north to New York City, where Anna Murray soon joined him. Later that year, Frederick and Anna married and moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Though settled in the North, Frederick was a fugitive, technically still Auld’s property. To protect himself, he became Frederick Douglass, a name inspired by a character in Sir Walter Scott’s poem Lady of
the Lake.

  Douglass began speaking against slavery at abolitionist meetings and soon gained a reputation as a brilliant orator. In 1841 he began working full-time as an abolitionist lecturer, touring with one of the leading activists of the day, William Lloyd Garrison.

  Douglass published his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, in 1845. The book became an immediate sensation and was widely read both in America and abroad. Its publication, however, jeopardized his freedom by exposing his true identity. To avoid capture as a fugitive slave, Douglass spent the next several years touring and speaking in England and Ireland. In 1846 two friends purchased his freedom. Douglass returned to America, an internationally renowned abolitionist and orator.

  Douglass addressed the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. This began his long association with the women’s rights movement, including friendships with such well-known suffragists as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

  During the mid-1840s Douglass began to break ideologically from William Lloyd Garrison. Whereas Garrison’s abolitionist sentiments were based in moral exhortation, Douglass was coming to believe that change would occur through political means. He became increasingly involved in antislavery politics with the Liberty and Free-Soil Parties. In 1847 Douglass established and edited the politically oriented, antislavery newspaper the North Star.

  During the Civil War, President Lincoln called upon Douglass to advise him on emancipation issues. In addition, Douglass worked hard to secure the right of blacks to enlist; when the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers was established as the first black regiment, he traveled throughout the North recruiting volunteers.

  Douglass’s governmental involvement extended far beyond Lincoln’s tenure. He was consulted by the next five presidents and served as secretary of the Santo Domingo Commission (1871), marshal of the District of Columbia (1877—1881), recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia (1881-1886), and minister to Haiti (1889-1891). A year before his death Douglass delivered an important speech, “The Lessons of the Hour,” a denunciation of lynchings in the United States.

  On February 20, 1895, Frederick Douglass died of a heart attack. His death triggered an outpouring of grief and mourning; black schools in Washington, D.C., closed for a day, and thousands of children were taken to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church to view his open casket. In his third autobiography, Douglass succinctly and aptly summarized his life; writing that he had “lived several lives in one: first, the life of slavery; secondly, the life of a fugitive from slavery; thirdly, the life of comparative freedom; fourthly, the life of conflict and battle; and fifthly, the life of victory, if not complete, at least assured.”

  THE WORLD OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS AND NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE

  1818 In February Frederick Douglass is born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in Tuckahoe, Maryland. His mother, Harriet Bailey, is a slave; his father’s identity is unknown, though many believe he was Douglass’s white master, Aaron Anthony. Frederick is sent to be raised by his grandparents, Betsey and Isaac Bailey.

  1824 Six-year-old Frederick is sent to St. Michaels, Maryland, to work on the Lloyd plantation, managed by Aaron Anthony.

  1826 Frederick’s mother dies. He is sent to Baltimore to work for Hugh Auld, a shipbuilder and the brother of Thomas Auld, Anthony’s son-in-law Frederick’s job is to look after Auld’s son, Tommy, and to work as a houseboy for Auld’s wife, Sophia.

  1827 Sophia Auld begins to teach Frederick to read, but her husband stops the lessons. Frederick continues learning on his own.

  1831 Having saved fifty cents, he purchases a copy of The Columbian Orator, an anthology of great speeches from leading orators throughout history, on such issues as liberty, equality, and justice.

  1833 In March Frederick is sent back to St. Michaels to work for Thomas Auld.

  1834 In January he is hired out as a field hand to Edward Covey, a professional “slave-breaker” who beats intransigent slaves into submission. After nearly eight months, Frederick stands up to Covey and beats him in a fight.

  1835 Frederick is hired out to William Freeland as a field hand. He opens a Sunday school for young blacks and begins teaching them to read and write.

  1836 Frederick and several other of Covey’s slaves attempt to escape, but are caught and imprisoned. Thomas Auld takes him out of prison and sends him back to Baltimore, where Hugh Auld trains him to become a ship caulker.

  1837 He meets and falls in love with Anna Murray, a free black woman.

  1838 On September 3 Frederick successfully escapes from slavery using a sailor’s “protection papers” (documents certifying the bearer is a free seaman). He arrives in New York City on September 4 and, to avoid recapture, changes his name to Frederick Johnson. Anna Murray joins him in New York and they marry on September 15. They move to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Frederick again changes his name, this time to Frederick Douglass, after a character in Lady of the Lake (1810), a historical poem by Sir Walter Scott.

  1839 In New Bedford Douglass works as a day laborer and begins speaking at abolitionist meetings. His first child, Rosetta, is born on June 24.

  1840 The Douglass’s son Lewis is born.

  1841 In August Douglass travels to Nantucket to attend a meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society; he meets the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, president of the American Anti-Slavery Society and editor of the well-known abolitionist paper The Liberator. Impressed by Douglass’s eloquent and powerful speech, Garrison employs him as an antislavery speaker.

  1842 A second son, Frederick, is born. Douglass begins traveling in New England, New York, and elsewhere around the North as an abolitionist speaker. He tells his personal story and attacks both slavery and northern racism. He and his family move to Lynn, Massachusetts, where Anna finds work in a shoe factory.

  1844 Another son, Charles Remond, is born.

  1845 In May Douglass publishes Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. The book is well received and widely publicized. However, its publication exposes his identity, and fearing capture as a fugitive slave, he leaves the country. He begins traveling through England and Ireland, speaking against slavery.

  1846 On December 5, 1846, friends purchase Douglass’s freedom from Thomas Auld.

  1847 Douglass returns to the United States in the spring; he and his family move to Rochester, New York. On December 3 he founds an antislavery newspaper, the North Star, which he continues to edit until 1860 (the paper’s name becomes Frederick Douglass’s Paper in 1851).

  1848 Douglass attends and speaks at the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, beginning his long association with the women’s rights movement.

  1849 His daughter, Annie, is born.

  1850 Douglass becomes part of the Underground Railroad network, using his home as a hiding place for fugitive slaves traveling north.

  1851 Douglass definitively breaks with Garrison, disagreeing over the issue of moral exhortation (which Garrison favored) versus political action (Douglass’s preference) as the major tool for eliminating slavery.

  1852 On July 4 Douglass delivers an impassioned speech about the meaning of freedom and slavery in a republic and about continuing hypocrisy and injustice.

  1855 His second autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom, is published.

  1859 Abolitionist John Brown tries to enlist Douglass’s support in a raid to liberate slaves at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia); Douglass refuses, believing it to be a doomed effort. On October 16 Brown goes through with his raid and is caught; he is later tried and hanged for treason. Because of his association with Brown, Douglass flees to England.

  1860 Douglass’s daughter, Annie, dies and he returns to Rochester. He campaigns for Abraham Lincoln, who is elected president in November.

  1861 The Civil War begins. Douglass is a vocal proponen
t of the right of blacks to enlist and an aggressive propagandist for the Union cause.

  1863 On January 1 President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in Confederate areas not held by Union troops. The first black regiment, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers, is assembled. Two of Douglass’s sons, Lewis and Charles, are among the recruits. Douglass travels throughout the North and recruits more than 100 members for the regiment; but he stops recruiting after a few months because of rampant discrimination against the black soldiers.

  1864 Douglass is called to the White House to discuss strategies for emancipation.

  1865 He attends the White House reception following Lincoln’s second inauguration. The Civil War ends on April 9, and on April 14 Lincoln is assassinated. In December Congress ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery.

  1866 Douglass supports Republican Reconstruction plans. He is part of a delegation that meets with President Andrew Johnson (who harbors Confederate sympathies) to push for black suffrage.

  1868- Douglass campaigns for Ulysses S. Grant, who wins the 1870 presidency in 1868. On March 30, 1870, Congress passes the Fifteenth Amendment, which gives blacks the right to vote. Douglass’s support for this measure, which does not include women, causes a temporary rift with women’s rights supporters.

  1871 Grant appoints Douglass secretary of a commission to Santo Domingo.

  1872 The Douglass’s Rochester home is destroyed by fire; no one is injured, but many of Douglass’s important papers are lost. The family moves to Washington, D.C.

  1874 Douglass is named president of Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company, a bank that had been founded to encourage blacks to save and invest their money. The bank is on the verge of collapse when Douglass takes it over, and it soon closes. A newspaper Douglass had purchased in 1870—the New National Era—also closes.