Frederick Douglass for Kids

by Nancy I. Sanders

  It started with the dawn of the new year. Frederick vowed that he would not let 1836 pass without making an honest attempt to escape the chains that chafed so heavily against his soul.

  He brought his closest friends and relatives into his confidence as he organized his plan. The Easter holidays were quickly approaching. Frederick said, “The plan of escape which I recommended, and to which my comrades assented, was to take a large canoe, owned by Mr. Hamilton, and, on the Saturday night previous to the Easter holidays, launch out into the Chesapeake Bay, and paddle for its head—a distance of seventy miles—with all our might.”

  Preparations were made. Frederick wrote a pass for each member of his group, five in all, to show to anyone if they were questioned along their route. He signed it with the signature of William Hamilton, the master who owned two members of the group. The pass read as follows:

  This is to certify, that I, the undersigned, have given the bearer, my servant, full liberty to go to Baltimore, and spend the Easter holidays. Written with mine own hand, &c., 1835.

  William Hamilton,

  Near St. Michael’s,

  in Talbot County, Maryland

  The day of escape dawned. Worry had made it impossible for Frederick to sleep. The fear of being caught and killed, or sold south where he’d heard slavery was even more cruel than in Maryland—combined with a fear of unknown dangers—was very real. Frederick and his friends woke up and, under the pretence that nothing was planned, started their usual morning chores in the barn and in the fields.

  And then it happened.

  Site of the Talbot County jail where Frederick Douglass and friends were imprisoned after his first attempt to escape. This building was constructed in 1878 and replaced the original. Photo by author

  Slavery

  by George Moses Horton

  Slavery, thou peace-disturbing thief, We can’t but look with frowns on thee, Without the balm which gives relief, The balm of birthright—Liberty.

  Thy wing has been for ages furl’d, Thy vessel toss’d from wave to wave, By stormy winds ’mid billows hurl’d— Such is the fate of every slave.

  A loathsome burden we are to bear, Through sultry bogs we trudging go; Thy rusty chains we frown to wear, Without one inch of wealth to show.

  Our fathers from their native land Were dragged across the brackish deep, Bound fast together, hand in hand, O! did the God of nature sleep?

  When sadly thro’ the almond grove The pirate dragged them o’er the sod, Devoid of pity and of love, They seemed as left without a God.

  Are we not men as well as they, Born to enjoy the good of earth, Brought in creation from the clay, To reap a blessing from our birth?

  Alas! how can such rebels thrive, Who take our lives and wealth away, Since all were placed on earth to live, And prosper by the light of day.

  The maledictions* of our God, Pervade the dwindling world we see; He hurls the vengeance with his rod, And thunders, let the slave be free!

  * Maledictions are declarations that something is terribly wrong.

  Reprinted from The Black Bard of North Carolina: George Moses Horton and his Poetry, edited by Joan R. Sherman. Copyright © 1997 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. www.uncpress.unc.edu

  Men galloped up on horseback. The sheriff and constables hurried to the scene, armed with pistols and clubs. The conspirators were arrested. They had been betrayed! Someone had told their secret.

  Frederick and his four friends were tied with ropes and dragged behind horses for a 15-mile walk to the Talbot County jail in Easton.

  “Does a righteous God govern the universe? and for what does he hold the thunders in his right hand, if not to smite the oppressor, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the spoiler?”

  —Frederick Douglass

  A New Direction

  Someone had betrayed their secret, but Frederick and his friends were determined not to betray each other. Just before his arrest, Frederick tossed his pass into the fireplace. His urgent whispers to his friends during the long walk to jail convinced them to eat the passes they still carried in their pockets.

  Though they were questioned many times when they reached the Talbot County jail, Frederick and his friends did not reveal their plans. To do so could have meant their death.

  Without any proof, Frederick’s friends were returned to their masters. Thomas Auld, Frederick’s owner, decided to send Frederick back to Baltimore after his three years away, to live again as the slave of his brother, Hugh Auld. This decision was based on threats from local slaveholders to kill Frederick if he remained on the Eastern Shore of Maryland because he was now known as the leader of an attempted escape.

  In Baltimore, plans were made for Frederick to learn the trade of caulking a boat. Caulking was a method where workers pounded strands of cotton fibers in between the wooden planks of a ship to make it watertight. Baltimore was a busy port with wharfs, docks, and shipyards. Hugh Auld sent Frederick to learn the trade of caulking in one of the nearby shipyards.

  At that time, however, there was a great conflict in Baltimore. The whites feared their jobs would be lost to free blacks or slaves who were forced to work for lower wages or no wages at all. At one point the whites in the shipyard where Frederick was apprenticed threatened to strike. They said they would not work at all unless only whites were hired in the shipyard. To make matters even worse, a group of these laborers attacked Frederick. Unable to hold his ground against the gang of four large, burly men, he was seriously injured.

  During the time Frederick stayed at home allowing his wounds to heal, Hugh Auld decided to take him to a different shipyard. Several years earlier, Hugh had owned his own shipyard, but due to hard financial times he had to let it go. Now he was foreman at Walter Price’s shipyard. Hugh took Frederick to Price’s shipyard, which was where Frederick finally learned his trade.

  Quilt: “Pullin’ Oakum,” by Joanne Harris, 2006. Photo by author, courtesy of Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park

  Frederick Douglass was apprenticed in a Baltimore shipyard to learn the trade of caulking. Note his name listed here as Fred Bailey. Bailey was his given name, but he changed his name to Douglass after escaping to freedom in order to avoid capture by slave hunters. Photo by author, courtesy of Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park

  Caulking a Boat

  To caulk a boat, workers used a special wooden caulking mallet, or type of hammer, to pound strings of fibers between the boat’s wooden planks. For smaller boats, strands of cotton fibers were used. For the large seafaring ships found in many Baltimore shipyards, thicker strands of oakum were used. Oakum was made from hemp fibers, or special plant fibers, that had been soaked in pitch or tar. Caulkers such as Frederick Douglass positioned a strand of oakum into the seam, or crack, between two wooden planks of a ship and held it in position with a caulking iron, or type of chisel. They pounded on the iron with the caulking mallet, driving the oakum into the crack.

  Caulking tools from left to right: caulking mallet, caulking iron, and oakum. Photo by author, courtesy of Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park

  Frederick was a quick learner. In no time at all, he learned how to use his caulking tools with skill. Within a year he had moved from apprentice caulker, or one who was learning how to caulk, to the position of expert caulker. Frederick remembers, “In the course of a single year, I was able to command the highest wages paid to journeymen caulkers in Baltimore.”

  Frederick earned about $1.50 per day at his job. Some weeks, during the busy season, he was able to earn up to $9.00 a week, quite an impressive salary in the late 1830s for his line of work! But since he was a slave, these wages were not his own. Instead, the money was handed over to his master, Hugh Auld.

  The Ties That Bind

  For the first time in his life, Frederick developed deep friendships with free blacks, a number of them his own age. “Many of the young calkers,” he recalled, “could read, write
, and cipher. Some of them had high notions about mental improvement; and the free ones, on Fell’s Point, organized what they called the ‘East Baltimore Mental Improvement Society.’”

  His new friends welcomed Frederick into their society. The debates they held stirred Frederick’s heart. Recognizing his natural gift for speaking, they assigned Frederick a leading position in several of their debates. Little did he realize that his experiences in this group would help prepare him for his greatest achievements as a famous orator.

  But not yet. Frederick was still a slave, even while many of his new friends were free. As Frederick became more skilled in his trade, his discontent grew. Why should he be required to turn over all his wages to another man? Why shouldn’t he be able to keep his wages as his friends did? He was more determined than ever before to plan his escape.

  As he considered all the different avenues for escaping slavery, Frederick realized he could buy his way to freedom. Some people purchased their freedom outright from their masters. Others escaped by purchasing false identity papers, train tickets, and costumes to disguise themselves.

  Frederick asked his owner for permission to “hire his own time,” or find his own employment. This was common practice in that era. A slave who hired his own time was able to save up money for himself if he worked long, hard hours. After being refused permission from Thomas Auld (his actual owner), Frederick requested permission from Hugh Auld, his master in Baltimore.

  Hugh gave Frederick permission to hire his own time under strict conditions: he would have to find his own jobs, collect his own pay, provide his own clothes, find his own place to live, and buy his own caulking tools. And every Saturday, Frederick had to pay Hugh three dollars.

  FORM A DEBATE CLUB

  One of Frederick Douglass’s earliest exposures to public speaking came when he joined a debate club in Baltimore. You can form a debate club with your friends, too.

  To start, look for a place where your club can meet and determine how often you want to meet. Gather reference materials to prepare for the debates, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, and a computer with access to the Internet.

  Plan to meet to prepare for the debates, practice mock debates, and hold actual debates. Appoint leaders of the club, such as president, secretary, and treasurer. Invite parents, teachers, or older friends to be coaches or judges.

  Choose which debate format your group will use, and learn its procedures. The Lincoln-Douglas Debate, or LD Debate, is one of the most common formats debate clubs use today. This format is based on the type of debates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas used to argue their stand on the issue of slavery in the 1850s. It is a values-based debate where members focus on an issue of philosophical or political concern. You can learn more about LD Debate in The Ultimate Lincoln-Douglas Debate Handbook by Marko Djuranovic, or explore different debate formats by visiting the International Debate Education Association website at www.idebate.org/teaching/debate_formats.php.

  Anna Murray worked as a domestic, or house servant, in Baltimore. Photo by author, courtesy of Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park

  “This was a hard bargain,” Frederick remembered. “The wear and tear of clothing, the losing and breaking of tools, and the expense of board, made it necessary for me to earn at least six dollars per week, to keep even with the world.” Yet it was a bargain Frederick was willing to take.

  A New Friend

  Now that Frederick had permission to hire his own time, his hours were his own. Among the deep friendships he formed in Baltimore, he found a new friend when he met Anna Murray.

  Anna was part of the small circle of young, free blacks in Baltimore who welcomed into their group this hardworking and discontented visionary named Frederick Bailey. The young couple fell in love. With Anna, Frederick now shared his deepest desires for freedom. He found a sympathetic listener. Anna was determined to do whatever she could to help Frederick escape.

  That year, 1838, from May to August, Frederick worked hard and saved every penny he could. Every Saturday night that summer, he returned to his master and handed over the money according to their agreement.

  One Saturday, however, he was kept working in the shipyard later than usual.

  Frederick had made plans with his friends to attend a local camp meeting that Saturday night. The camp meeting was about 12 miles from Baltimore. Finally finished at the shipyard, Frederick knew it was getting late. He simply wouldn’t have time to go back to his master’s house and then head off to the camp meeting.

  Frederick made a decision that would change his life. He decided to go to the camp meeting and pay the money to his master when he returned.

  At camp meetings such as this one, Frederick found a faith he could believe in. Having grown up with slaveholders who belonged to the local churches, he had been told twisted lies that God created black men to be slaves. At the camp meetings, however, the preachers spoke about a loving God who valued each individual and created all people as equals. Hearing this message, Frederick embraced Christianity as his faith.

  He stayed at the camp meeting one day longer than he had planned. When it was over, however, he headed straight to the house of his master, Hugh Auld, to pay the money they had agreed upon.

  He found a furious man waiting for him. Thinking that Frederick had escaped, Hugh punished him. Hugh took away Frederick’s right to hire his own time and therefore crushed his escape plans.

  This was a devastating blow. Frederick could no longer take this kind of unfair treatment. He was determined to take action. He must escape! Now, before it was too late!

  2

  “OUR FATHERS BROUGHT FORTH ON THIS CONTINENT …”

  Stepping into Freedom

  Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey knew he must escape now—or perhaps never. Even though he was still enslaved, he had tasted what it was like to move freely through the streets of Baltimore, find his own jobs, and choose his own activities throughout the day. Now those privileges were denied him. All too well, he understood how his life could change in one moment due to the wishes of his master. He couldn’t risk being sent back to working on a plantation on the Eastern Shore of Maryland or, even worse, being sold farther south. He must escape now.

  Frederick picked a date: September 3, 1838. Just three weeks away! He whispered his plans to Anna. He would flee to New York City and then send for her when he was standing safely on the soil of a free state. She would follow, and they would be married. Neither of them dared to think of what might happen if their plans did not work.

  Anna Murray packed her belongings in trunks such as these as she prepared to join Frederick in New York City after his escape. Photo by author, courtesy of Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park

  The next three weeks were spent in frenzied preparation. Anna helped fashion Frederick a sailor’s outfit, putting her sewing skills to good use. From her earnings, she helped pay for Frederick’s journey as well as her own. There were tickets to be purchased for passage on carriages, trains, and steamships. She packed everything she owned to be ready for his call to join him at his side. A featherbed with pillows, sheets and blankets for the bed, dishes and knives and forks and spoons—she planned to take as much as she could for the new life ahead of them.

  Anna even packed one trunk with a new silk dress. Carefully folding the beautiful, soft, plum-colored fabric to fit inside the trunk, she hoped that she would soon wear the dress on their wedding day. For now, though, she tried to keep her hands busy so that worry would not overwhelm her.

  A Household Servant

  For most of the previous decade, Anna had lived in Baltimore working as a domestic, or maid. She had lived with her parents in Denton, Caroline County, Maryland, until she was 17 years old. She then moved to Baltimore where she found work living with the Montells, a French family who needed a household servant. After working with them for two years, Anna found employment serving the Wells family, who also lived in Baltimore. Mr. W
ells was postmaster at that time.

  During those years, Anna worked hard to serve the members of the Wells household. A special bond grew between her and her employers, and afterward she always spoke with fondness of the years spent with the family.

  Slave? Or Free?

  Bambarra Murray and his wife, Mary, were slaves. Together, they had seven children. According to the law that children were slaves if their mother was a slave, each of the couple’s children was born into slavery. However, in 1813, both Bambarra and Mary acquired their freedom. Just one month after being set free, they had their eighth child. They named their new precious little girl Anna. Oh, what joy must have filled their hearts as they held their little baby close in their arms! Because Anna had been born after her mother was listed on the court records as free, little Anna was born into freedom. Her parents had four more children, all born into freedom too.

  Industrious, independent, and dependable, Anna was responsible for many of the day-to-day household duties in the home of the Wellses. Cooking the meals, polishing the silver, and washing the laundry were probably some of the tasks she tended to.

  Freedom’s Flight

  For nine years, Anna Murray had worked as a maid for families living in Baltimore. Now, however, her future was uncertain. As she helped Frederick prepare for his escape, she knew she must leave all her friends and connections behind. The three weeks of preparation were filled with anxiety.

  At that time, the state of Maryland required free African Americans to carry “free papers” at all times. Frederick explained, “In these papers the name, age, color, height, and form of the free man were described, together with any scars or other marks upon his person which could assist in his identification.” Sailors carried “sailor’s protection papers,” similar to these free papers, to provide proof of their free status as well.