wheels, shoes, and cloth that were needed by the numerous slaves were
manufactured by themselves. Large crops of grain and tobacco were raised
and shipped for Baltimore. All the business of twenty or thirty other
farms was transacted at this plantation, which was distinguished by the
name of "The Great House Farm"; and as Captain Anthony was overseer of
all the overseers, he was kept very busy all the time. He took no notice
of Freddy at first, but when told who the newcomer was, he patted him on
the head and said, "You are my little Indian boy." Occasionally when he
met him he would speak affectionately to him; but he was a
violent-tempered man, and Freddy soon learned to watch him closely when
he saw him coming. If he was shaking his head or muttering to himself,
he hastened to get out of his way, lest he should catch a blow without
knowing what it was for. The slave children had no one to care for them
but cross Katy, the cook, who cuffed them about, and kept all, except
her own children, in such a half-starved condition, that Freddy often
had a tussle with the dogs and cats for the bones that were thrown to
them. Summer and winter, they had no clothing but a coarse tow shirt
that reached to the knees. They were provided with two a year; and if
they wore out before allowance-day came round, they went naked. They
slept anywhere on the floor without covering. Freddy suffered much from
cold. His naked feet were cracked open in great gashes in the winter.
When he could get a chance, he would creep into the meal-bag at night.
So much for the care taken of their bodies; and it fared no better with
their souls. All the instruction they received was from Uncle Isaac, a
crippled slave, who, being unable to work, taught the children to say
the Lord's Prayer after him by rote, and switched them whenever they
made a mistake.
But Freddy was at an age to bear privations and troubles lightly, and to
enjoy thoughtlessly whatever pleasant things came in his way. He had
never seen anything so grand as The Great House, in which Colonel Lloyd
resided. It was a large white building, with piazza and columns in
front, surrounded by arbors, and grain-houses, and turkey-houses, and
pigeon-houses, interspersed with grand old trees. There was an extensive
lawn, kept as smooth as velvet, and ornamented with flowering shrubs.
The carriage-road to and from the house made a circle round the lawn,
and was paved with white pebbles from the beach. Outside of this
enclosed space were extensive parks, where rabbits, deer, and other wild
animals frisked about. Flocks of red-winged blackbirds made the trees
look gay, and filled the air with melody. Vessels on their way to
Baltimore were continually in sight, and a sloop belonging to Colonel
Lloyd lay in the river, with its pretty little boat bobbing about in the
sparkling water. There was a windmill not far off, and the little slaves
were never tired of watching the great wings go whirling round. There
was a creek to swim in, and crabs and clams and oysters to be got by
wading and digging and raking for them. Freddy was glad enough to catch
them when he had a chance, for he never had half enough to eat. He had
one friend at The Great House. Daniel Lloyd, the Colonel's youngest
son, liked to have him assist in his sports. He protected him when
bigger boys wanted to make war upon him, and sometimes he gave him a
cake. Captain Anthony's family consisted of a son, Andrew, and a
daughter, Lucretia, who had married Captain Thomas Auld. Mrs. Lucretia
took a fancy to bright little Freddy. She liked to hear him sing, and
often spoke a kind word to him. This emboldened him so much, that when
he was very hungry he would go and sing under the window where she sat
at work, and she would generally give him a piece of bread, sometimes
with butter on it. That was a great treat for a boy who was fed all the
time on corn mush, and could not get half enough of that. His business
was to clean the front yard, to keep fowls out of the garden, to drive
the cows home from pasture, and to run of errands. He had a good deal of
time to play with his little relatives, and with the young slaves at
Colonel Lloyd's, who called him "Captain Anthony Fed." He was such a
mere boy, that it is no wonder so many new people and things soon cured
him of homesickness for his grandmother, who could very seldom get time
to trudge twelve miles to see him.
But though his slave-life was not without gleams of enjoyment, he saw
and heard much that was painful. At one time he would see Colonel Lloyd
compel a faithful old slave get down upon his knees to be flogged for
not keeping the hair of his horses sufficiently smooth. At another time,
the overseer would shoot a slave dead for refusing to come up to be
whipped. Ever and anon some of them were sold to Georgia slave-traders,
and there was weeping and wailing in the families they left behind. On
the premises of his own master, he was not unfrequently wakened in the
night by the screams and groans of slaves who were being lashed. One of
Captain Anthony's slaves, named Esther, was the sister of Freddy's
mother. She had a pretty face and a graceful shape. She and a handsome
young slave of Colonel Lloyd's were much attached, and wished to marry.
But her old master, for reasons of his own, forbade her to see her
lover, and if he suspected them of meeting he would abuse the poor girl
in a most shocking manner. Freddy was too young at the time to
understand the full significance of this cruel treatment; but when he
thought of it in after years, it explained to him why his poor mother
had always looked so downcast and sad. As for himself, he managed to
escape very severe punishment, though Captain Anthony not unfrequently
whipped him for some carelessness or mischief. But when he saw the
plantation-laborers, even of so rich a man as Colonel Lloyd, driven out
to toil from early morning to dusk, shivering in the cold winds, or
dripping with rain, with no covering but a few coarse tow rags, he could
not help thinking that such was likely to be his fate when he was older.
Young as he was, he had a great dread of being a field-hand. Therefore
he was rejoiced when Mrs. Lucretia told him he was to be sent to
Baltimore, to live with her husband's brother, Mr. Hugh Auld. She told
him if he would make himself very clean, she would give him a pair of
new trousers. The prospect of exchanging his little tow shirt for new
trousers delighted him so much that he was ready to scrub his skin off
to obtain them. He was, moreover, very eager to see Baltimore; for
slaves who had been there told fine stories about the grand houses and
the multitude of ships. He had been only two years at Captain Anthony's,
and he had formed no attachment so strong as that he had felt for his
old grandmother. It was with a joyful heart that he went forth to view
the wonders of the city. When he arrived in Baltimore, his new mistress
met him at the door with a pleasant smile. She said to her son, "There's
little Freddy, who has come to take care of you"; and to him she said,
"You must be kind to little Tommy." Mrs. Sophia Auld had earned her own
living before her marriage, and she had not yet acquired the ways of
slaveholders toward servants. While her own little Tommy was on her
knee, Freddy was often seated by her side, and sometimes her soft hand
would rest upon his head in a kind, motherly way. He had never been
treated so since he left his good old grandmother. In a very short time
he loved her with all his heart, and was eager to do anything to please
her. It was his business to go of errands and take care of Tommy. The
boys became as much attached to each other as if they were brothers.
There was nothing to remind Freddy of being a slave. He had plenty of
wholesome food to eat, clean clothes to wear, and a good straw bed with
warm covering. Mrs. Auld was much in the habit of singing hymns and
reading the Bible aloud; and Freddy, who was not at all afraid of "Miss
Sophy," as he called her, said to her one day that he wished she would
teach him to read. She consented; and he was so quick at learning that
he was soon able to spell small words. His kind mistress was so much
pleased with his progress, that she told her husband about it, and
remarked, with much satisfaction, that Freddy would soon be able to read
the Bible. Mr. Auld was displeased, and forbade her giving any more
lessons. "It is contrary to law to teach a nigger to read," said he. "It
is unsafe, and can only lead to mischief. If you teach him to read the
Bible, it will make him discontented, and there will be no keeping him.
Next thing, he will be wanting to learn to write; and then he'll be
running away with himself." This was said in the presence of Freddy, and
it set his active mind to thinking. He had often before wondered why
black children were born to be slaves; and now he heard his master say
that if he learned to read it would spoil him for a slave. He resolved
that he _would_ learn to read. He carried a spelling-book in his pocket
when he went of errands, and persuaded some of the white boys who played
with him to give him a lesson now and then. He was soon able to read.
With some money that he earned for himself, he bought a book called "The
Columbian Orator." It contained many speeches about liberty. The reading
of them made him discontented. He was no longer light-hearted and full
of fun. He became thoughtful and serious. When he played with white
boys, he would ask, "Why haven't I as good a right to be free, and go
where I please, as you have?" And sometimes a generous-hearted boy would
answer, "I believe, Fred, you _have_ just as good a right to be free as
I have."
He knew that his present situation was uncommonly favorable; but the
idea of being a slave for life became more and more hateful to him. He
had not been in Baltimore quite four years when an event occurred which
proved to him the extreme uncertainty of a slave's condition, even when
circumstances seemed the most favorable. His old master, Captain
Anthony, died; and his slaves were to be divided between his son Andrew
and his daughter Mrs. Lucretia Auld. Frederick was in terror lest it
should be decided that he belonged to Andrew, who was a confirmed
drunkard, and excessively cruel to the slaves. It was a month before the
division of the estate was decided by law; and the anxiety of his mind
was so great that it seemed to him half a year. He felt as if saved from
sentence of death, when he was informed that he belonged to Mrs.
Lucretia, who had been kind to him in his hungry boyhood. As she had no
occasion for his services, it was agreed that he should remain in Mr.
Hugh Auld's family; a circumstance which pleased Master Tom and his
mother about as much as it did Freddy.
But in a short time he was again painfully reminded of the uncertainty
of his condition. Mrs. Lucretia and her brother Andrew both died, each
of them leaving one child. Neither Captain Anthony nor his children left
any of the slaves free. Even Frederick's old grandmother, who had nursed
her master when he was a baby, waited upon him through his boyhood,
worked faithfully for him during all her life, and reared up a multitude
of children and grandchildren to toil for him,--even she was left in
Slavery, with no provision made for her. The children she had tended so
lovingly were sold, or let out in distant places; all were unable to
write to inform her where they had gone; all were unable to help her,
because they were not allowed to have their own earnings. When her old
master and his children were dead, the owners of the property thought
Gran'ma Betty was too old to be of any further use; so they put up a hut
with a mud chimney in the woods, and left her there to find food for
herself as she could, with no mortal to render her any service in her
dying hour. This brutal proceeding increased the bitterness of
Frederick's feeling against Slavery.
By the blessing of God the consolations of religion came to him, and
enabled him to look beyond this troubled and transitory world. A pious
colored man, called Uncle Lawson, became interested in him. They
attended prayer-meetings together, and Frederick often went to his house
on Sundays. They had refreshing times together, reading the Bible,
praying, and singing hymns. Uncle Lawson saw that his young friend had
uncommon intelligence, and he often said to him, "The Lord has a great
work for you to do, and you must prepare yourself for it." Frederick
replied that he did not see how a slave could prepare himself for any
great work; but the pious old man always answered, "Trust in the Lord.
He will bring it about in his own good time. You must go on reading and
studying Scripture." This prophecy inspired him with hope, and he seized
every opportunity to improve himself. But he had many obstacles to
contend with. His master, Mr. Hugh Auld, was made irritable by an
increasing love for brandy. When he found out that Frederick read and
spoke at religious meetings, he threatened to flog him if he continued
to do it. His kind mistress, who used to pat him on the head and call
him "Little Freddy," was changed by the habit of having slaves and
talking with slaveholders. The pleasant, motherly expression of her face
had become severe. She watched Frederick very closely, and if she caught
him with a book or newspaper in his hand, she would rush at him in a
great rage and snatch it away. Master Tommy had grown to be a tall lad,
and began to feel that he was born to be a master and Fred to be a
slave. Frederick would probably have tried to run away, had it not been
for the friendships he had formed for Uncle Lawson and the religious
young men he met at the meetings. Notwithstanding his master's threat,
he contrived to find opportunities to read and pray with good Uncle
Lawson; and it had a blessed influence on his spirit, making him feel at
peace with all men. Now that he had a taste of knowledge, it was
impossible to prevent his getting more. His master sent him of errands
to the shipyard almost daily. He noticed that the carpenters marked
their boards with letters. He asked the name of the letters, and copied
them with a bit of chalk. When the family went from home, he diligently
copied from the writing-books Master Tommy had brought from school; and
his zeal was so great that in a short time he could write as well as his
master. He picked up bits of newspapers wherever he could find them, and
he listened attentively when he heard slaveholders talking about the
Northern States and cursing the Abolitionists. He did not at first know
what was the meaning of "abolitionists"; but when he read in a newspaper
that petitions were sent into Congress for the abolition of Slavery,
light dawned upon him. He told trustworthy colored friends about it, and
they were comforted by the thought that there were people at the North
trying to help them out of bondage.
But a new blow fell upon him. Captain Thomas Auld married again, after
the death of his wife Mrs. Lucretia, and removed to St. Michael's,--an
old village, the principal business of which was oyster fishing. He got
into a quarrel with his brother, Mr. Hugh Auld of Baltimore, and
demanded that Frederick should be sent back to him. So he was put on
board a ship for St. Michael's. When swift steamboats on their way to
Philadelphia passed the sloop that carried him, he bitterly regretted
that he had not escaped to the Free States from Baltimore, where he
could have had so many more opportunities for doing it than he could at
the old fishing-village. Captain Thomas Auld and his new wife were both
great professors of religion. He was an exhorter and class-leader in the
Methodist Church. But their religion was not of a kind that taught them
humanity to their fellow-creatures. They worked their slaves very hard,
and kept them half fed and half clothed. Scolding and flogging were
going on incessantly. Frederick soon discovered that they were violently
opposed to colored people's knowing how to read; but when a pious young
man in the neighborhood asked him to assist in a Sunday school for
colored children, he resolved to seize the opportunity of being useful.
When his master found out what he was doing, he was very angry; and the
next Sunday he and two other Methodist class-leaders went to the school,
armed with clubs and whips, and drove off both teachers and scholars. It
was agreed that Frederick had been spoiled by living in Baltimore, and
that it was necessary to cure him of his dangerous thirst for knowledge.
For that purpose he was sent to a famous "negro-breaker" in the
neighborhood named Covey. He was a great professor of religion, but a
monster of cruelty. Frederick was almost killed by hard labor, and not a
week passed without his being cruelly cut up with the whip. Escape was
impossible, for Covey was on the watch at all times of day and night.
Six months of such treatment wellnigh crushed all manhood out of him.
But cruelty was carried so far that at last he became desperate, and
when his master attempted to beat him, he struggled with him and threw
him down. He expected to be hung for it, according to the laws of
Maryland; but Covey prided himself on his reputation as a
"negro-breaker," and he was ashamed to have it known that he had been
conquered by a lad of seventeen. Frederick's time was not out for six
months longer, but Covey never attempted to whip him again.
The next two years Frederick was let out to do field-work for Mr.
Freeland, who fed his slaves well, and never worked them beyond their
strength. Some of his slaves were intelligent, and desirous to learn to
read. On Sundays they had meetings in the woods, and twenty or thirty
young men were taught by Frederick. After a while they formed a plan of
escaping in a canoe. But some unknown men excited suspicion against
them, and they were seized and thrust into prison. They kept their
secrets so well, however, that no proof could be obtained against them,
and they were released without even a whipping. But some of the
neighboring slaveholders said Frederick was a dangerous fellow; that he
knew too much,--they would not have him tampering with their slaves; and
if he was not sent out of the neighborhood they would shoot him. Captain
Thomas Auld talked of selling him to Alabama; but he finally concluded
to let him out again to his brother Hugh, with a promise that if he
behaved well he should be free at twenty-five years old.
When he returned to Baltimore he was let out to work at calking vessels;
and he soon became so expert at the business that he earned from seven
to nine dollars a week. He was trusted to make his own contracts, but
was required to pay Mr. Hugh Auld his earnings every Saturday night. On
such occasions a sixpence or a shilling was sometimes given him, for
which he was expected to be grateful; but it naturally occurred to him
that the whole of the money rightfully belonged to him who earned it. He
was attached to a worthy girl named Anna, but he was reluctant to form
family ties while he was subject to the vicissitudes of Slavery. He
often thought of escaping to the Free States, but the regulations were
so strict that it seemed a hopeless undertaking, unless he had money.
When Captain Thomas Auld visited Baltimore, he tried to make a bargain
with him to buy his time for a specified sum each week, being free to
earn as much more as he could. The reply was, "You are planning to run
away. But, wherever you go, I shall catch you." The master then tried to
coax him with promises of freedom in the future; but Frederick thought
it very uncertain when they would be willing to give up a man who
brought them in nine dollars a week. He concluded to go to the Free
States. How he accomplished it he never told, for he was afraid of
bringing trouble upon those who helped him.
When he arrived in New York, he says he felt as he should suppose a man
would feel who had escaped from a den of hungry lions. But the joyful
feeling was soon checked. He met an acquaintance who had recently
escaped from Slavery. He told him the city was full of Southerners, who
had agents out in every direction to catch runaway slaves; and then he
hurried away, as if afraid of being betrayed. This made Frederick feel
very desolate. He was afraid to seek employment as a calker, lest spies
from his master should be on the watch for him. He bought a loaf of
bread, and hid away for the night among some barrels on a wharf. In the
morning, he met a sailor, who looked so good-natured and honest that he
ventured to tell him he was a fugitive slave, and to ask him for advice.
He was not deceived in the expression of the man's face. He invited him
to his house, and went in search of Mr. David Ruggles, a worthy colored
man, well known as a zealous friend of his oppressed race. The fugitive
was kept hidden for a few days, during which time Anna was sent for, and
they were married. By help of Mr. Ruggles, employment at calking was
obtained in New Bedford, a large town in Massachusetts, where a great
many ships are constantly employed. There he found many intelligent
colored people, not a few of whom had been slaves. They lived in
convenient houses, took newspapers, bought books, and sent their
children to good schools. They had various societies for improvement;
and when he attended their meetings, he was surprised to hear their
spirited discussions on various subjects. His bright mind was roused
into full activity by the influences around him. He changed his name to
Frederick Douglass. He was called Mr. Douglass now, and felt like it. He
worked hard, but that was a pleasure, now that he could enjoy his own
earnings. He felt safe; for there were so many Abolitionists and so many
intelligent colored people in New Bedford, that slaveholders did not
venture to go there to hunt for fugitives. The cruel treatment he had
received from hypocritical professors of religion had not destroyed his
faith in the excellence of real religion. He joined a church of colored
people, called Zion Methodists, and became a class-leader and preacher
among them. He took a newspaper called "The Liberator," edited by
William Lloyd Garrison, wherein he found the rights of the colored
people vindicated with great zeal and ability. His wife proved a neat
and industrious helpmate, and a little family of children began to
gather round him. Thus furnished with healthy employment for his mind,
his heart, and his hands, he lived over three years in New Bedford.
At the end of that period, in the year 1841, a great Anti-Slavery
meeting was held in the vicinity, and Mr. Douglass went to hear Mr.
Garrison and others speak. He did not suppose that any one in the
meeting knew him; but a gentleman was present who had heard him preach
in Zion Church, and he went to him and urged him to address the
Anti-Slavery meeting. He was bashful about speaking before such a large
and intelligent audience; and when he was persuaded to mount the
platform he trembled in every limb. But what he said flowed right out
from the depths of his heart; and when people of any intelligence speak
in that way, they are always eloquent. The audience were greatly moved
by what he told them of his experiences. It was the beginning of a great
change in his life. The Anti-Slavery Society employed him to travel in
the Free States to lecture against Slavery; and that you may be sure he
could do with a will. Crowds went to hear him, and his ministration was
greatly blessed. The prophecy of good Uncle Lawson was fulfilled. The
Lord _had_ a great work for him to do; and in His own good time he had
brought it about.