Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)
Frederick Douglass was born to a slave as well as a white
slave owner. Aside from being born a slave, Frederick Douglass was able to teach
himself how to read and write. Douglass involved himself in the improvement of
the lives of other black men. Douglass was able to organize a small revolt
against his owner and survived the revolt.
Frederick Douglass’s book was published in 1845 and was named
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Douglass’ narrative is a
recount of the tough life on the plantations before his escape to New York.
Douglas describes in this narrative the senseless acts of cruelty on the part of
the masters as well as the debased lives of the slaves.
Frederick Douglass greatly contributed to the emancipation
cause. Among Douglass’ several contributions was the recruitment of Negro
volunteers during the Civil War period. Frederick Douglass also played a key
role in safeguarding and preserving the right of his fellow freed men.
Douglass later worked as a secretary of the Santo Domingo
Commission, Recorder of Deeds in the District of Columbia and United States
Minister to Haiti
Frederick Douglas's Escape to Freedom
Although Frederick Douglass did not go into great detail about
his escape from his master to freedom in New York, he does describe the trying
times he encountered once arriving in the free state of New York. The following
excerpt is from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
"I have been frequently asked how I felt when I found myself
in a free State. I have never been able to answer the question with any
satisfaction to myself. It was a moment of the highest excitement I ever
experienced…. In writing to a dear friend, immediately after my arrival in New
York, I said I felt like one who had escaped a den of hungry lions. This state
of mind, however, very soon subsided; and I was again seized with a feeling of
loneliness. I was yet liable to be taken back, and subjected to all the tortures
of slavery. But the loneliness overcame me. There I was in the midst of
thousands, and yet a perfect stranger; without home and without friends, in the
midst of thousands of my own brethren-children of a common Father, and yet I
dared not to unfold to any of them my sad condition…"
Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglas. New York: Signet, 1968.
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