Town Hall... Frederick Douglass

Good Afternoon to you all. Many of you may know me as Frederick Douglass, famous educated Slave, i’m here to tell you the story on how I became that man you all know. 

I was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey around February 1818 in Talbot county, located on the eastern shore of Maryland. I have no true knowledge of my actual birthday, since I was separated from my mother at such a young age and slaves didn’t have access to much  knowledge of any sort. My mother was a plantation slave, My Father on the other hand I have no accurate knowledge of, although I know was a white man and I suspect was my master which at the time was a very common thing. 

When I was young, I was raised by my grandmother because I was too young to work, thats how things usually go on plantations. By the time I was about seven, I was sent to live with master Hough Auld, a Baltimore merchant, as well as his wife Sophia. There I was a city slave, and lived much better than plantation slaves, I was clothed well, and fed well also. My work had consisted on keeping up the house and running errands for my master. It was in that very home that I got my first glimpse of education in the world. Ms. Sophia auld had something that slaveholders call irresponsible power. She didn’t know any better so she began teaching me the alphabet. Her husband and my master at the time Mr Hugh auld quickly forbid her of doing any educating of any sort, he believed and would always say that education would spoil the best nigger in the world. 

Regardless of these obstacles, I had been given an inch, and was determined to take a mile. I tried getting my hands on any book I could, reading Baltimore street signs to get better, even using bread to give to the poor white boys in my neighborhood in return for tutoring. I had much more freedom with the auld family than I did at any other plantation, and I used that to my full advantage. I believed education was my weapon in fighting the dehumanizing forces of slavery and it was from that moment I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.

Growing up I was sent to different places to live learning many things and fighting many tough battles, ultimately I ended up going back to live in Baltimore in my late teens. As I got older, a big pivot in my career as a slave besides my education was me learning to calk. This opened up a lot of opportunities for me to gain money, although I couldn’t make use of it at all besides bringing my earnings directly to my master. I was living well, and I was a slave, but that didn’t make it right that I was making good money and just handing it over to him every time I got my pay. I eventually sought my own employments, made my own contracts, and collected the money which I earned.

This gave me a sense of freedom, and it drove me. I was tired of freedom only being a sense and not a reality.  I wanted to escape the horrors of slavery, on September 3rd 1838, I did just that without any trouble  I left my chains, and succeeded in reaching New York without the

slightest interruption of any kind. I did this with the help of a friend named Anna Murray.

After getting to the north..  I changed my last name from Bailey to Johnson. As told in my autobiography, I was sought out by a man named Mr. Ruggles, he had helped many slaves in devising ways for them to escape, he helped refuge many slaves as well. He deemed it unsafe for me to stay in new york, and asked me where I wanted to go. I told him I calk and that I should like wherever I can get work to do, we decided on New Bedford Massachusetts. Me and Anna, whom I had reunited with and married with the help of Mr. Ruggles in New York, set out our passage to New Bedford on a steamboat.

Per: (narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass). Upon Reaching New Bedford we were directed to the house of Mr. Nathan Johnson by whom we were kindly received, and hospitality provided for. Both Mr. And Mrs. Johnson proved themselves quite worthy of the name abolitionists. At this time I had now felt a degree of safety. The first morning after our arrival, the question arose as to what name I should be called by. The name my mother had given me of course was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. I however had dispensed with that name twice, so that I was generally known as Frederick Bailey, and now Frederick Johnson. Being as though there were so many Johnsons’ in New Bedford, I found it necessary to change my name again. Mr. Johnson had just been reading a book “the lady of the lake” and at once suggested that my name be “Douglass” from that time until now, I have been known as what you all know me today, Frederick Douglass.

Post-settling in Massachusetts, I did two things. I tried to find work & I began dedicating my life to abolition joining organizations such as the American Anti-Slavery Society as well as the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society where I worked along other famous abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison and Sojourner Truth. I advocated internationally going out of the country to places such as Europe, where I spoke about the abolitionist cause and sought support from anti-slavery abroad. I published newspapers such as The North Star (1847-1851) and later The  Frederick Douglass' Paper (1851-1863). These papers became vital platforms for abolitionist ideas, providing a voice for the anti-slavery movement.

I wrote three autobiographies,  My Bondage and My Freedom (1855)  

Times of Frederick Douglass (1881),  and the most famously Narrative of the Life of Frederick  Douglass, an American Slave (1845). My goal being to detail my experiences in slavery and provide an argument and insight against it.

I delivered speeches that highlighted the injustices of slavery and stood up for civil rights. My  speech "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" (1852)  is most famous for my critiques of American values in the context of slavery.

In conclusion, my journey from a young ignorant slave to a powerful spokesman preaches to the power of education. My experiences in the horrors of slavery fueled my drive to fight against it. I attempted through my speeches and my famous writings to ignite a fire in Americans to go to war against the injustices of slavery and to come to a day where the 14th amendment comes true.

sources used: ibiblio.org/masshumanities.com/google.com/news.harvard.edu/NAARC.com