The Enduring
Legacy of Frederick Douglass
Note: This essay is based on Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass: an American Slave Written
by Himself. John Blessingame,
John R. McKivigan, and Peter P. Hinks, eds. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2001.
Overview
I have been fascinated with Frederick
Douglass for over ten years.
What an amazing story he has!
Born a slave, he escaped to freedom and became a world-renowned orator,
author, minister, and activist.
Along the way, he developed convictions that still ring true, especially
those regarding free speech, justice, and education.
Douglass was truly a self-educated man,
stating: “Read and you will
forever be free.” Learning
to read was the catalyst for Douglass, the orator and statesman. His master’s wife provided him
with the basics and when Douglass surpassed her expertise, he sought out books
to keep him on the path to literacy.
One book in particular made a lasting impression
on the young Douglass, and that book was The
Colombian Orator. At age
twelve, Douglass devoured it, memorizing passages, then pacing the floor while
he practiced his delivery.
Scholars believe that this determination was a factor in Douglass’
transformation into an orator respected across the country and around the
world. In his later years,
Douglass spent about six months out of the year traveling in the United States
and abroad giving lectures.
Following are some up-lifting quotations from the speeches of Frederick
Douglass:
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
“Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate
agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain
without thunder and lightning.”
“To educate a man
is to unfit him to be a slave.”
“It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the
gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the
earthquake.”
“What is possible for me is possible for
you.”
The impact of
Frederick Douglass on the history of our country, especially in the area of
civil rights, was impressive.
Martin Luther King, Jr. shared Douglass’ ideology for equality of all
people. King’s famous “I Have a
Dream” speech echoes a speech given by Douglass called "What to the
Slave Is the Fourth of July?"
Both men scolded a nation for espousing equality, while ignoring
conditions that forced blacks into poverty.
Fast-forward forty years to the election of President Barack Obama. In remarks at the Democratic Convention
in 2008, then Senator Obama, delivered what has become known as his “Yes, We
Can” speech. It reflects the
optimism and encouragement of Frederick Douglass advice that what was “possible
for me is possible for you.”
I developed the framework for
this essay while attending the American Memory Institute at the Library of
Congress. American Memory is the
digital archive for millions of documents, photographs, speeches, letters,
film, music, and paintings, related to the history of the United States. Created by an act of Congress in 1990,
American Memory was the brainchild of James Billington, the Librarian of
Congress at that time. He had a
vision to share historic images that previously could only be viewed by
appointment at the Library.
Because of the depth of research possible
at the library of Congress, my colleague and I (along with twenty-three other
teachers from across the Nation) were able to draft a lesson plan outline to
aid high school students in the study of Frederick Douglass. Our group’s completed lesson plans were
displayed on the American Memory website for viewing by teachers and students
everywhere.
What makes Frederick Douglass’ life extraordinary
is his transformation from slave to abolitionist to world-class citizen. Even though descriptions of his harsh
circumstances may still make us cringe, the eloquence of those descriptions are
ingrained in our memories.
The Early Years
To understand the full impact of Douglass’ life, it is important to
start at the beginning. While
there is no accurate record of his birth, it is believed that he was born in
1818, in Talbot County, Maryland. In his Narrative, Douglass describes his father as “a white
man,” “the master of the plantation.”
He never knew his name.
Frederick never knew for sure who his father was.
The mother of Frederick Douglass, Harriet
Bailey, was said to be “both colored and quite dark.” As was the custom then,
she was separated from her son, who was “hired out” to another Maryland
farm. Douglass gives no reason for
this travesty, other than to “blunt and destroy the natural affection of the
mother for the child.” (p. 14).
For this was the effect his mother’s disappearance had on the boy. He only saw her five times in his
entire life. Harriet would risk
her life to visit her son, walking the entire distance after working in the
fields all day. Then she would
soothe her son to sleep, and leave the next morning. When Frederick was seven, he heard that his mother had died.
In his early years, Frederick experienced
great hardship. In his
Autobiography, he writes that: “in the hottest summer and coldest winter, I was
kept almost naked – no shoes, no stockings, no stockings, no trousers, nothing
on but a coarse tow linen shirt, reaching only to my knees. I had no bed. I must have perished with cold, but that, the coldest
nights, I used to steal a bag which was used for carrying corn to the
mill. I would crawl into this bag,
and there sleep on the cold, damp, clay floor, with my head in and feet
out. My feet have been so cracked
with the frost, that the pen with which I am writing might be laid in the
gashes.” (28)
Frederick also witnessed the suffering of
others. He wrote in painful detail
about the flogging of his “Aunt Hester,” whose only mistake had been her
absence on a night when her master desired her. Recalling the tragedy, Frederick wrote that his aunt
was “taken into the kitchen and stripped from neck to waist…her hands were
crossed and tied with a strong rope, and she was led to a stool under a large
hook in the joist…He made her get on the stool, and tied her hands to the hook. She now stood fair for his infernal
purpose. Her arms were stretched
up at their full length, so that she stood upon the ends of her toes…after
rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay on the heavy cowhide, and soon the
warm, red blood (amid heart rending shrieks from her and horrid oaths from him)
came dripping to the floor. I was
so terrified that I hid in the closet, and dared not venture out till long
after the bloody transaction was over.
I expected it would be my turn next…I had never seen anything like it
before.” (16-17)
Most appalling was the master’s defense
for the mistreatment by quoting from the Bible. Douglass was an eye-witness to the following
incident: “I have said my master
found religious sanction for his cruelty.
As one example, I will state one of the many facts going to prove the
charge. I have seen him tie up a
lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked shoulders,
causing the warm red blood to drip; and in justification of the bloody deed, he
would quote this passage of Scripture – ‘He that knoweth his master’s will, and
doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.’” (44).
Another shocking aspect of slave life was
the lack of decent food. A typical
day went like this: “Our food was
coarse corn meal boiled. This was
called mush. It was poured into a wooden tray or
trough, and set down upon the ground.
The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs
they would come and devour the mush; some with oyster-shells, others with
pieces of shingle, some with naked hands, and none with spoons. He that ate fastest got most; he that
was strongest secured the best place; and few left the trough satisfied.” (28)
At the age of fifteen, Douglass had an
epiphany, and set about to break the chains of slavery. First, he stood up to his master, a Mr.
Covey, fighting him for two hours.
With his master now beaten, Douglass felt his “long-crushed spirit” rise,
leaving defiance in its place.
This was the turning point for Douglass, who resolved that “however long
I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a
slave in fact.” (54) He began to
plot his escape from bondage, first by boat and then by train.
Freedom
In 1835, Frederick Douglass
successfully escaped to freedom by train and by boat. Boarding a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland, he was given
identification papers by a free black, and donned a sailor’s uniform. He then crossed the Susquehanna by
ferry and traveled by train to Wilmington, Delaware. At Wilmington, he took a steamship to Philadelphia, and
continued on the New York.
Here is howDouglass described his new-found freedom: ‘I have often been asked, how I felt
when first I found myself on free soil. And my readers may share the same
curiosity. There is scarcely anything in my experience about which I could not
give a more satisfactory answer. A new world had opened upon me… I lived more in one day than in a year
of my slave life. It was a time of joyous excitement which words can but tamely
describe…Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted; but
gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil."
(The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, 170).
From this point on, Douglass was blessed with
good fortune and support. His
first speech at New Bedford, Massachusetts was met with wide acclaim. For the next sixty years, his life was
filled with many accomplishments and honors, among them: successful journalist and owner of the
North Star newspaper; friend to President Lincoln; appointment to U. S.
Marshall; appointment to the office of Recorder of Deeds in Washington, D. C.;
candidate for Vice-President of the United States; supporter of equal rights
for women; widely traveled lecturer.
After his death in 1895, a monument
to him was built in Rochester, New York, where he had published the North Star
newspaper. His home, Cedar Hill,
in Washington, D. C. became a National Historic Site. A U. S. postage stamp was created in his honor and many of
his original documents are held at the Library of Congress.
I believe that one of his greatest legacies is
that his autobiography is required reading in schools and colleges across the
United States. His words live on
and continue to inspire us as they continue to remind us to keep believing in ourselves.
