Why does Frederick Douglass not approve of the underground railroad? because he believes, that to many people know of it. what had Douglass believed about life in the north was he right? He thought the north would be poor without slaves.
How does Douglass feel about the Underground Railroad?
- Douglass feels the underground railroad is too publicized. He also feels that although the intent is honorable, the slaves themselves are lost when they attain their freedom. they’re unprepared.
How does Frederick Douglass feel about the Underground Railroad?
Douglass adds that the underground railroad (an organized system of cooperation among abolitionists helping fugitive slaves escape to the North or Canada) should be called the “upperground railroad,” and he honors ” those good men and women for their noble daring, and applauds them for willingly subjecting themselves to
What is Frederick Douglass’s point of view?
First Person (Central) Douglass’s narrative is, as the title page tells us, “Written By Himself.” He’s the book’s main character – almost the only character – so most of the narrative is just him talking to us about himself.
Was Frederick Douglass against the Underground Railroad?
Frederick Douglass was very active on the Underground Railroad and was well-connected with other abolitionists across the state. He helped a great deal of fugitive slaves make their way to freedom in Canada. He spoke out about the Jerry Rescue in Syracuse.
Why did Frederick Douglass disapprove of the manner in which the Underground Railroad was conducted?
Why did Frederick Douglass disapprove of the manner in which the Underground Railroad was conducted? He thought that there was too much publicity about the Underground Railroad which may hinder future escape efforts because they were enlightening slaveholders of their methods of escape.
What did Frederick Douglass do?
Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became a prominent activist, author and public speaker. He became a leader in the abolitionist movement, which sought to end the practice of slavery, before and during the Civil War.
Who did Douglass marry?
Frederick Douglass and Helen Pitts Douglass remained married until his death in 1895. After his will was contested by his children, Helen secured loans in order to buy Cedar Hill and preserve it as a memorial to her late husband.
How does Frederick Douglass’s viewpoint affect your understanding of different characters?
How does Frederick Douglass’s viewpoint affect your understanding of different characters? Douglass’s viewpoint shows us the destructive effects slavery had on other characters and how some people treated Douglass differently based on different perspectives.
What challenges did Frederick Douglass face?
When he turned 16 years old he attempted to escape slavery, sadly the attempt failed, after another 4 years he successfully escaped slavery pretending to be a sailor. Another obstacle that Douglass had to faced was the people that were against him.
How would you describe the tone of the excerpt what is Douglass’s main purpose?
tone Douglass’s tone is generally straightforward and engaged, as befits a philosophical treatise or a political position paper. He also occasionally uses an ironic tone, or the tone of someone emotionally overcome. major conflict Douglass struggles to free himself, mentally and physically, from slavery.
What happened to the Underground Railroad?
End of the Line The Underground Railroad ceased operations about 1863, during the Civil War. In reality, its work moved aboveground as part of the Union effort against the Confederacy.
Why did Frederick Douglass move to Rochester?
Douglass moved to Rochester after learning about the active local black community, which included abolitionist Austin Steward, an escaped slave from Virginia, who had spent six years in Canada. He was rapidly becoming the most visible black man in Rochester.
Is the Underground Railroad a true story?
Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-award-winning novel, The Underground Railroad is based on harrowing true events. The ten-parter tells the story of escaped slave, Cora, who grew up on The Randall plantation in Georgia.
Why does Frederick Douglass fail to give all the details of his escape?
Why does Frederick fail to give the details of his escape? He wanted to protect other slaves and keep it a secret from slave owners who may possibly read his book. He was considered a rebellious slave, and his death was supposed to be a warning to other slaves.
Why does Douglass not give details about his escape?
Why didn’t Douglass give all of the details of his escape? Douglass’s book was published before slavery was ended. If he’d given all the details of his escape, he would have given away important information about the Underground Railroad and put people in danger.
Ch. 11 : Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Why does he have a condescending attitude toward the folks who worked on the Underground Railroad? On April 27, 2016, at 1:39 a.m., JasminU523307 posed the question. Aslan last modified this page on April 27, 2016, 1:41 a.m.
Answers1
Add YoursAnswered byAslan on 4/27/20161:41 AM Douglass was rather dismissive of the very public debate that had erupted around the Underground Railroad. While he was pleased that slaves had found their way to freedom, Douglass believed that the “open declarations are a positive evil to the slaves remaining, who are seeking to escape.” In 1838, Douglass was becoming restless, questioning why he had to continue giving the contents of his purse to his master on a regular basis. He considered trying to find work for himself in order to accumulate more money for his upcoming departure.
The man declined, describing it as a “stratagem by which to escape” and encouraging Douglass to be pleased with his current status.
Source(s)
Add YoursAnswered byAslan on 4/27/20161:41 AM Douglass was rather dismissive of the very public debate that had erupted around the Underground Railroad. Add Yours His delight at slaves finding their way to freedom was offset by his belief that the “open declarations are a positive evil to the slaves remaining, who are seeking to escape.” In 1838, Douglass was becoming restless, wondering why he had to keep handing over the contents of his purse to his master on a regular basis. According to him, he should attempt to contract himself out in order to raise more money for his escape.
The man rejected, referring to the request as “a scheme by which to flee” and encouraging Douglass to be satisfied with his current circumstances.
How Frederick Douglass Escaped Slavery
Frederick Douglass had never been so nervous in his life. As he reached the Baltimore and Ohio train station, the butterflies in his stomach fluttered with every bounce of the carriage over Baltimore’s cobblestone streets. The slave, then known by his birth name of Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, was about to embark on a risky voyage with the goal of reaching New York—and ultimately freedom—as his final destination. Following Douglass’ failed effort to emancipate himself from slavery two years before, he was imprisoned and transferred to Baltimore by his master, where he was contracted out to work in the city’s shipyards for a period of time.
According to his memoirs, “I was confident that if I failed in this endeavor, my case would be a hopeless one.” “It would effectively seal my destiny as a slave for all time.” The disguise of a free black sailor, which Douglass pulled off admirably, was a clever trick, considering the nautical expertise he learned while working on the wharf.
- With his red shirt and nautical hat, as well as his loosely tied black necktie, he looked dapper for the occasion.
- A free African American seaman had given Douglass the paperwork, but the seaman he had taken it from did not resemble the physical description on the sheet of paper.
- Close investigation by a train official or by any other authority would disclose the ruse and put Douglass and his buddy in danger of being arrested.
- It took several minutes before the conductor was eventually allowed to enter the segregated passenger car carrying the train’s African-American passengers.
- “The choice of this conductor had the potential to change my entire destiny,” he wrote.
- “Do you think you’ve got your free papers?” he inquired.
- As the conductor pointed out, “you do have something to prove that you are a free man, don’t you?” I have a piece of paper with the American eagle on it, and it will take me all the way across the world,” Douglass said.
- The conductor’s attention was drawn to the authoritative eagle imprinted on the top of the bus rather than to the erroneous physical description written on the side.
“Had the conductor paid great attention to the document,” Douglass said, “he could not have failed to see that it asked for a person who appeared to be extremely different in appearance from myself.” Douglass’s uneasiness did not completely subside with the arrival of the conductor’s footsteps, on the other hand.
- The quicker the train moved, the longer it appeared to take to catch up with the escaping slave.
- In addition, Douglass’ cover was almost revealed on a number of occasions during the investigation.
- While boarding a northbound train across the river, Douglass noticed a white ship captain who had previously worked for him through the window of another train that had stopped on the track.
- Even if the captain’s sight never rested on the slave, the gaze of a German blacksmith whom Douglass recognized did.
- “I truly think he was aware of my existence,” Douglass wrote, “but lacked the courage to betray me.” Frederick Douglass in his early twenties, around 1847.
- Despite the difficulties, Douglass was able to arrive in New York without incident less than 24 hours after departing Baltimore.
- Packs of slave catchers scoured the streets of New York, looking for fugitives who could be hiding elsewhere.
- Douglass and his new bride left for a safer haven in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the next day after their wedding ceremony ended in tragedy.
- A former slave who escaped from slavery changed his last name from Bailey to Douglass in order to better conceal his identity from slave hunters.
- When Douglass published his autobiography in 1845, he revealed only a few details about his escape in order to protect those who helped him and to keep authorities unaware of the method he used to break free from slavery.
It was not until 1881 that he was finally able to provide details of his escape. Throughout his life, Douglass referred to February 14, 1838, as the day when his “free existence started,” and he observed that day in lieu of his actual birthday for the rest of his days.
Frederick Douglass: “I Am A Man”
This blog post is the second of two about the abolitionist Frederick Douglass (who is celebrating his 200th birthday this year), and it is part of a series called “Hidden Folklorists,” which looks at the folklore work of surprising people, including people who are better known for other endeavors, such as musicians and actors. The first post, “Frederick Douglass: Free Folklorist,” can be seen at the URL provided above. In 1870, Frederick Douglass was born. Photograph courtesy of George Francis Schreiber.
- Abolitionists hoped that the Fugitive Slave Act would force people in free states to surrender slaves to their masters.
- In order to reach a jurisdiction that would not send them back to their slave states, slaves traveling north had to run all the way to Canada, which they did.
- Aside from that, the “Compromise of 1850,” which was arranged by Henry Clay, established a system of balance between slave and free states.
- Douglass’ mentor, William Lloyd Garrison, was one among the abolitionists who accepted the compromise as a means of keeping the peace.
- When he said that the agreement of 1850 “reveals with striking clarity the extent to which slavery has shot its leprousdistilmentthrough the lifeblood of the Nation,” he was referring to the compromise of 1850.
- 12 for an address delivered at the Broadway Tabernacle in New York.) Douglass had always been a voracious reader, and it appears that he was particularly interested in law and ethnology at this period.
- He got interested in ethnology because he was already employing an awareness of culture, particularly slavery’s culture, in his lectures to improve the consciousness of those living in free states, which piqued his curiosity.
A search for ethnological literature on the notion of “race” by diverse authors was undertaken by Douglass with the goal of discovering arguments that would assist bridge the division that existed between African and European Americans.
During his time at Western Reserve College in Ohio, Douglass delivered a lecture titled “The Claims of the Negro” to the Philozetian Society.
This occurred during a particularly gloomy period in the history of the study of human beings.
No coincidence that these “races” were groupings of people who western countries desired to govern, conquer, or hold in servitude for their own reasons.
Fashion is not limited to clothing, but also encompasses philosophy–and it is currently trendy in our country to highlight the contrasts between the negro and the European, to name a few examples.
The European face is shown in a manner that is consistent with the greatest ideals of beauty, dignity, and intellectuality.
For his part, the negro appears with twisted features, exaggerated lips, sunken forehead–and the entire expression of his visage is designed to conform to the general perception of negro imbecility and depravity.
where Frederick Douglass lived until his death in 1896 (between 1980 and 2006).
Highsmith Archive, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
In fact, as Douglass pointed out, there was no consensus among ethnologists as to exactly which groups constituted “races” or how these various groupings came to exist.
Some people viewed northern Africans as being akin to Europeans, but others did not share this opinion.
Many people, however, agreed on one point: Sub-Saharan Africans were primitive and inferior in comparison to other people.
The fact that Douglass was in the business of dispute helped him comprehend the concepts that kept slavery alive, and this understanding offered him insight into ways of opposing those notions.
This religious argument would resonate with a large number of people in his audience.
Douglass had a gut feeling that ethnologists who said Africans possessed a low level of intelligence were erroneous.
Douglass was aware of other educated African Americans and African Europeans who he could point to.
James McCune Smith, himself a colored man, a gentleman and scholar, alledges–and not without strong reason–that this, our own great nation, so famed for industry and effort, is in large part owed to its composite character,” he says in this address (page 33).
Activists for abolition in Pennsylvania established a school in Philadelphia in 1837 for the training of African Americans to become teachers.
Cheney University is the name of the institution now.
A little bit about this college is familiar to me due to the fact that two of my great-grandparents were alumni.
As a result, it was the world’s first completely co-educational and integrated institution of higher learning in the world.
The fact that this college produced Charles Lewis Reason, the nation’s first African-American professor, comes as no surprise given its historical significance.
A number of scientists used physical characteristics such as head size and stature as proof for the supremacy of Europeans, believing that taller individuals with larger brains were more intelligent.
A number of people at this time believed that the Irish constituted a distinct race.
Within a generation, he noted a shift in the demographics of Irish Americans in Indiana.
Douglass stated in this lecture that nutrition, job conditions, and education all had an impact on the physical traits that ethnologists said were static, proof of race, and evidence of inferiority (pages 30-31).
At the beginning of the twentieth century, anthropologist Franz Boas would employ a variation of this argument to argue against the concept of race as it was applied in anthropological research.
Even though Douglass did not have access to the same amount of data as Boas, his views were valid.
Douglass asserts that, even if the commonality of African Americans with other human beings cannot be demonstrated, they are still human.
According to what I’ve studied and seen on this subject thus far, the Almighty, within certain boundaries, gifted people with organizations that are capable of endless variations in shape, feature, and color without the need to initiate a new creation for each new variety (page 32).
“I am a man!” he would proclaim to his audience at various points throughout his lectures.
It is a sad commentary on American history that a man of Douglass’ brilliance felt the need to declare himself a human being on more than a dozen occasions.
As a result of his observations, Douglass came to see how prevalent the notion of different origins of supposed “races” had become in law and science, in support of a society committed to inequity.
This was because the number of African Americans in some southern states was so large that it was feared that Blacks would take over the government if they were given the vote.
The case of Dred Scott.
Located at: Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress Four years after delivering this speech, a watershed moment occurred.
Scott had been transferred to the free state of Illinois, then the free territory of Wisconsin, and finally left on his own, where he met and married his wife.
When being summoned by his master, he traveled to Missouri, where he sought to purchase his freedom after his master died.
In addition, it’s possible that Scott was uninformed of his legal rights in those jurisdictions.
Scott was found to be a slave by the Supreme Court in 1858, and the Court went on to state that, as a result of his race, he had no rights under the Constitution and could not bring a civil suit in federal court.
Frederick Douglass’s address on the Dred Scott case reads almost as if it were a triumphant announcement of triumph.
Some abolitionists were feeling defeated at this time and wondered if the South should be permitted to secede from the Union, as had previously been urged, in order for the North to be able to construct a free society.
One point of view is that we, the abolitionists and people of color, should greet this decision, as unjust and monstrous as it appears, with a positive attitude.
He had been preparing for this moment and everything that would come after it through his ethnological research, his efforts to disprove those who claimed different groups of human beings had multiple origins, and his efforts to challenge the notion that people of color were inferior to Europeans, among other things.
Douglass correctly predicted on numerous occasions that the culture of slave ownership would eventually transform into a culture of oppression of freed slaves unless significant efforts were made to ensure that freed slaves were given their legal rights.
People’s rights are founded on a common foundation, and for all of the reasons that they are supported, maintained, and defended for one variety of the human family, they are also supported, maintained, and defended for all varieties of the human family; this is because all mankind has the same desires, which arise from a common nature.
– “The Claim of the Negro,” from “The Claims of the Negro” (page 34) Resources Library of Congress holdings include the Frederick Douglass Papers.
Eastern Illinois University : Teaching with Primary Sources
However, many of the intriguing and lesser known elements of the Underground Railroad are not included in many textbooks, despite the fact that it is an essential part of our nation’s history. It is intended that this booklet will serve as a window into the past by presenting a number of original documents pertaining to the Underground Railroad. Broadsides, prize posters, newspaper clippings, historical records, sheet music, pictures, and memoirs connected to the Underground Railroad are among the primary sources included in this collection.
- The Underground Railroad was a covert structure established to assist fugitive slaves on their journey to freedom in the United States.
- As a result, secret codes were developed to aid in the protection of themselves and their purpose.
- Runaway slaves were referred to as cargo, and the free persons who assisted them on their journey to freedom were referred to as conductors.
- These stations would be identified by a lantern that was lighted and hung outside.
A Dangerous Path to Freedom
However, many of the intriguing and lesser known elements of the Underground Railroad are not included in many textbooks, despite the fact that it is a vital part of our country’s history. This pamphlet will give a glimpse into the past through a range of primary documents pertaining to the Underground Railroad, which will be discussed in detail. Broadsides, prize posters, newspaper clippings, historical records, sheet music, pictures, and memoirs relating to the Underground Railroad are among the primary sources included in this collection.
The Underground Railroad was a covert structure established to assist fugitive slaves on their journey to freedom in the American Civil War.
Consequently, secret codes were developed to assist them in protecting themselves and their purpose.
It was the conductors that assisted escaped slaves in their journey to freedom, and the fugitive slaves were known as cargo when they were transported.
ConductorsAbolitionists
However, many of the intriguing and lesser known elements of the Underground Railroad are not included inside many textbooks, despite the fact that it is a vital part of our nation’s history. This ebook will give a look into the past through a range of primary documents pertaining to the Underground Railroad. Broadsides, prize posters, newspaper clippings, historical records, sheet music, pictures, and memoirs relating to the Underground Railroad are among the primary sources included in this collection.
The Underground Railroad was a covert structure designed to assist fugitive slaves on their journey to freedom in the American Civil War.
As a result, secret codes were developed to assist them in protecting themselves and their purpose.
Runaway slaves were referred to as cargo, and the free people who assisted them on their journey to freedom were referred to as conductors.
Stations were the names given to the safe homes utilized as hiding places along the routes of the Underground Railroad. These stations would be identified by a lighted lantern placed outside.
Efforts of Abolitionists Telling Their Story:Fugitive Slave Narratives
Henry Bibb was born into slavery in Kentucky in the year 1815, and he was the son of a slave owner. After several failed efforts to emancipate himself from slavery, he maintained the strength and persistence to continue his struggle for freedom despite being captured and imprisoned numerous times. His determination paid off when he was able to successfully escape to the northern states and then on to Canada with the assistance of the Underground Railroad, which had been highly anticipated. The following is an excerpt from his tale, in which he detailed one of his numerous escapes and the difficulties he faced as a result of his efforts.
- I began making preparations for the potentially lethal experiment of breading the shackles that tied me as a slave as soon as the clock struck twelve.
- On the twenty-fifth of December, 1837, the long-awaited day had finally arrived when I would put into effect my previous determination, which was to flee for Liberty or accept death as a slave, as I had previously stated.
- It took every ounce of moral strength I have to keep my emotions under control as I said goodbye to my small family.
- Despite the fact that every incentive was extended to me in order to flee if I want to be free, and the call of liberty was booming in my own spirit, ‘Be free, oh, man!
- I was up against a slew of hurdles that had gathered around my mind, attempting to bind my wounded soul, which was still imprisoned in the dark prison of mental degeneration.
- Furthermore, the danger of being killed or arrested and deported to the far South, where I would be forced to spend the rest of my days in hopeless bondage on a cotton or sugar plantation, all conspired to discourage me.
- The moment has come for me to follow through on my commitment.
- This marked the beginning of the construction of what was known as the underground rail route to Canada.
For nearly forty-eight hours, I pushed myself to complete my journey without food or rest, battling against external difficulties that no one who has never experienced them can comprehend: “not knowing when I might be captured while traveling among strangers, through cold and fear, braving the north winds while wearing only a thin layer of clothing, pelted by snow storms through the dark hours of the night, and not a single house in which I could enter to protect me from the storm.” This is merely one of several accounts penned by runaway slaves who were on the run from their masters.
Sojourner Truth was another former slave who became well-known for her work to bring slavery to an end.
Green and many others, including Josiah Henson, authored autobiographies in which they described their own personal experiences.
Perhaps a large number of escaped slaves opted to write down their experiences in order to assist people better comprehend their struggles and tribulations; or perhaps they did so in order to help folks learn from the mistakes of the past in order to create a better future for themselves.
Frederick Douglass statue torn down in Rochester, N.Y., on anniversary of his famous Fourth of July speech
During the 168th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’ famous speech “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” a statue of the abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass was removed off its pedestal in Rochester, New York, according to reports. It is believed that the seven-foot-high statue was ripped from its base and dragged from Maplewood Park, which is located along the Underground Railroad in Kelsey’s Landing, where Frederick Douglass and abolitionist Harriet Tubman assisted enslaved people in their journey to freedom.
- The statue, which was a copy made of a type of plastic and finished to seem like bronze, had been taken from its base, according to Rochester police, and was discovered approximately 50 feet away on the banks of the Genesee River, they said.
- According to Investigator Jacqueline Shuman, public information officer for the Rochester Police Department, no arrests have been made in this case.
- Douglass was born 200 years ago today, and Eison was there to assist lead the city of Rochester in commemorating the occasion.
- On July 5, the 150th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’ speech in Rochester, New York, a monument of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass was demolished off its pedestal in the city.
During his Monday morning press conference, he criticized the vandalism on the Douglass statue, blaming it on “anarchists.” Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP, stated on Twitter on Monday that he believes the Douglass statue was demolished in reprisal for demonstrators’ removal of Confederate monuments.
Some may refer to this as REVENGE—remove our WhiteSupremacists, and we will remove your Abolitionist—but it is more accurately described as REVENGE.
Listen to his comments and you’ll understand why his honesty is both respected and feared.” Douglass challenged the audience with the following question: “What is your Fourth of July to the American slave?” Douglass said, “It is a day that highlights to him, more than any other day of the year, the heinous injustice and cruelty of which he is a victim on a daily basis.” He sees in your celebration only a sham; in your boasted liberty, an unholy license; in your national greatness, swelling vanity; in your sounds of rejoicing, empty and heartless; in your denunciations of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence; in your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; and in your prayers and hymns, sermons and thanksgivings, with all of your religious parade and solemnity, Douglass died in Rochester’s Mount Hope Cemetery in 1895 and was buried there.
Douglass’ bronze monument, which stands more than 25 feet tall at the junction of Robinson Drive and South Avenue in Rochester, was constructed in 1899 to commemorate the centennial of his birth.
For the 200th anniversary of Douglass’ birth, artist Olivia Kim made more than 12 duplicates of the original sculpture, which were installed across the city in commemoration of the occasion.
In a statement released on Monday, Eison described the latest attack on a Douglass replica as “disappointing,” adding, “I can guarantee that no matter what they do, it will never reduce the beliefs Frederick Douglass stood for and strived for.”
Harriet Tubman
| Harriet Tubman is perhaps the most well-known of all the Underground Railroad’s “conductors.” During a ten-year span she made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom. And, as she once proudly pointed out to Frederick Douglass, in all of her journeys she “never lost a single passenger.” Tubman was born a slave in Maryland’s Dorchester County around 1820. At age five or six, she began to work as a house servant. Seven years later she was sent to work in the fields. While she was still in her early teens, she suffered an injury that would follow her for the rest of her life. Always ready to stand up for someone else, Tubman blocked a doorway to protect another field hand from an angry overseer. The overseer picked up and threw a two-pound weight at the field hand. It fell short, striking Tubman on the head. She never fully recovered from the blow, which subjected her to spells in which she would fall into a deep sleep.Around 1844 she married a free black named John Tubman and took his last name. (She was born Araminta Ross; she later changed her first name to Harriet, after her mother.) In 1849, in fear that she, along with the other slaves on the plantation, was to be sold, Tubman resolved to run away. She set out one night on foot. With some assistance from a friendly white woman, Tubman was on her way. She followed the North Star by night, making her way to Pennsylvania and soon after to Philadelphia, where she found work and saved her money. The following year she returned to Maryland and escorted her sister and her sister’s two children to freedom. She made the dangerous trip back to the South soon after to rescue her brother and two other men. On her third return, she went after her husband, only to find he had taken another wife. Undeterred, she found other slaves seeking freedom and escorted them to the North.Tubman returned to the South again and again. She devised clever techniques that helped make her “forays” successful, including using the master’s horse and buggy for the first leg of the journey; leaving on a Saturday night, since runaway notices couldn’t be placed in newspapers until Monday morning; turning about and heading south if she encountered possible slave hunters; and carrying a drug to use on a baby if its crying might put the fugitives in danger. Tubman even carried a gun which she used to threaten the fugitives if they became too tired or decided to turn back, telling them, “You’ll be free or die.”By 1856, Tubman’s capture would have brought a $40,000 reward from the South. On one occasion, she overheard some men reading her wanted poster, which stated that she was illiterate. She promptly pulled out a book and feigned reading it. The ploy was enough to fool the men.Tubman had made the perilous trip to slave country 19 times by 1860, including one especially challenging journey in which she rescued her 70-year-old parents. Of the famed heroine, who became known as “Moses,” Frederick Douglass said, “Excepting John Brown – of sacred memory – I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than.” And John Brown, who conferred with “General Tubman” about his plans to raid Harpers Ferry, once said that she was “one of the bravest persons on this continent.”Becoming friends with the leading abolitionists of the day, Tubman took part in antislavery meetings. On the way to such a meeting in Boston in 1860, in an incident in Troy, New York, she helped a fugitive slave who had been captured.During the Civil War Harriet Tubman worked for the Union as a cook, a nurse, and even a spy. After the war she settled in Auburn, New York, where she would spend the rest of her long life. She died in 1913.Image Credit: Moorland-Spingarn Research Center |
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Chapter XI & Appendix Summary & Analysis
Douglass adds that the final chapter of hisNarrativedepicts the period of his life during which he managed to elude capture and emancipation. He admits, however, that the chapter does not provide a detailed description of his escape route because he does not want to provide slaveholders with knowledge that would assist them in preventing other slaves from fleeing to the North. To the contrary, Douglass hopes that slaveholders would grow frantic with the thought of invisible adversaries lurking around them, ready to take their slaves away from them or hamper them in their quest to regain possession of their slaves.
- As a courtesy, Auld occasionally pays Douglass a tiny fraction of his salary, which only serves to reinforce Douglas’s belief that he is legally entitled to the payments in their full.
- When Thomas Auld comes to Baltimore, Douglass approaches him and asks to be permitted to go out and look for job on his own.
- A year and a half later, Douglass approaches Hugh Auld with the same request, and Auld accepts, with the caveat that Douglass must find all of his own employment and pay Auld three dollars per week in order to cover the costs of his own tools, board, and clothes.
- In exchange for his own time and payment on Saturdays, Douglass employs Hugh Auld for a period of four months.
- Hugh Auld is enraged and revokes Douglass’s right of hiring his own time, thinking that Douglass may attempt to flee at any point throughout the day.
- Then Douglass decides to flee on the third of September, which happens to be his birthday.
- As the day of his escape approaches closer, Douglass begins to feel nervous about abandoning his numerous Baltimore acquaintances and about the prospect of failing to make it.
However, rather than feeling comforted upon arriving in New York, Douglass is gripped with a terrifying sense of foreboding.
The people around him are frightened of him, and he is scared to communicate with anybody for fear that they would report him in.
Ruggles, an abolitionist and journalist, urges Douglass to seek employment as a caulker in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he has a connection.
Anna moves to New York to be with Douglass.
When Douglass and Anna arrive in New Bedford, they are greeted by Mr.
Nathan Johnson, who cover their travel debt and assist Douglass in deciding on a new name for themselves.
Johnson, referring to the name of a knight in Sir Walter Scott’s novelLady of the Lake.
Douglass has always thought that Northerners are impoverished because they do not own slaves, a belief that is supported by historical evidence.
Douglass does not believe in great poverty.
They are more politically informed and educated than many of the slaveholders in the Southern United States.
Douglass will be employed at the New Bedford docks for the next three years in a variety of positions around the port.
Douglass joins an antislavery conference in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in August 1841, and is encouraged to talk about his experiences as a slave.
He is apprehensive about speaking in front of a group of white people, but he quickly becomes confident. Since that day, Douglass has fought tirelessly to further the anti-slavery cause.
Summary: Appendix
When it comes to religion, Douglass utilizes the appendix to clarify his perspective. A significant distance, he believes, separates Christ’s clean and peaceful Christianity from that of slaveholding America’s wicked Christianity. Throughout the book, Douglass articulates his awareness of the hypocrisy of Southern “Christian” leaders who lash slaves, prostitution female slaves, and wage theft from working slaves while claiming to uphold Christian virtues such as humility, purity, and virtue. Douglass indicates that the Southern church and slaveholders are allies in their struggle against slavery.
Abolitionist poet Robert Frost and a parodic rendition of an old Southern hymn are among the sources Douglass draws on to buttress his case.
Analysis: Chapter XIAppendix
To clarify his perspective on religion, Douglass includes an appendix to his book. The author argues that there is a significant difference between the clean and peaceful Christianity of Christ and the corrupt Christianity of slaveholding America. When it comes to Southern “Christians” whipping slaves, prostituting female slaves, and stealing the salaries of working slaves while claiming Christian principles like as humility, cleanliness, and virtue, Douglass has a clear grasp of what they are doing.
Slave money from slaveholders is accepted by the church.