September 3: Frederick Douglass Escapes from Slavery (1838)
Prayer Idea
Pray for people seeking to escape from dangerous situations.
History Note
Frederick Douglass was born in 1818 in Maryland. His mother was enslaved. His father was a white man, perhaps the man who kept his mother in slavery.
After escaping from slavery in 1838, Douglass became a prominent author and speaker. In his early writings, he chose not to reveal the details of how we made his escape. In an 1881 article in The Century Illustrated Magazine, he explained his reasons:
In substance these reasons were, first, that such publication at any time during the existence of slavery might be used by the master against the slave, and prevent the future escape of any who might adopt the same means that I did. The second reason was, if possible, still more binding to silence: the publication of details would certainly have put in peril the persons and property of those who assisted.
Before the Civil War, free black persons in the United States had to carry free papers, written descriptions of the person and a declaration that they were not enslaved. Some enslaved persons used free papers belonging to another person in their attempts to escape slavery. Frederick Douglass knew a sailor who loaned him a document declaring the holder a free American sailor.
In his 1881 article, Douglass provided details about the daring journey he made by train on September 3, 1838:
I had on a red shirt and a tarpaulin hat, and a black cravat tied in sailor fashion carelessly and loosely about my neck. My knowledge of ships and sailor's talk came much to my assistance, for I knew a ship from stem to stern, and from keelson to cross-trees, and could talk sailor like an "old salt."
I was well on the way to Havre de Grace before the conductor came into the negro car to collect tickets and examine the papers of his black passengers. This was a critical moment in the drama. My whole future depended upon the decision of this conductor. Agitated though I was while this ceremony was proceeding, still, externally, at least, I was apparently calm and self-possessed.
He went on with his duty — examining several colored passengers before reaching me. He was somewhat harsh in tone and peremptory in manner until he reached me, when, strange enough, and to my surprise and relief, his whole manner changed. Seeing that I did not readily produce my free papers, as the other colored persons in the car had done, he said to me, in friendly contrast with his bearing toward the others:
"I suppose you have your free papers?"
To which I answered:
"No sir; I never carry my free papers to sea with me."
"But you have something to show that you are a freeman, haven't you?"
"Yes, sir," I answered; "I have a paper with the American Eagle on it, and that will carry me around the world."
With this I drew from my deep sailor's pocket my seaman's protection, as before described. The merest glance at the paper satisfied him, and he took my fare and went on about his business. This moment of time was one of the most anxious I ever experienced. Had the conductor looked closely at the paper, he could not have failed to discover that it called for a very different-looking person from myself, and in that case it would have been his duty to arrest me on the instant, and send me back to Baltimore from the first station.
During his journey by train and boat to Philadelphia, Douglass saw a few people he knew. They either did not recognize him in his disguise or chose not to report him to the authorities. After arriving in Philadelphia, Douglass immediately took a train to New York. He arrived in New York the next day and began his life as a free man.
Daguerreotype of Frederick Douglass (c. 1848)
Learn More
A ranger at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Washington, D.C., provides an overview of Douglass's life.
Find more resources at Homeschool History.
