The most famous slave in United States history had a strong and deep connection to the maritime domain.
As a young man Frederick Douglass gazed wistfully at the bay; while traveling under bondage he carefully studied the waterway and imagined his escape; as a young man he worked in a shipyard caulking wooden frigates; working in the shipyard helped him learn to read; when he made his escape he impersonated a sailor and found shelter in a sailor-friendly port; and, while he was alone and homeless, another sailor helped him and led him to abolitionists who helped Douglass survive and thrive.
In his "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" (Published at the Anti-Slavery Office, Boston; 1845) Douglass describes standing on the bank of the "noble" Chesapeake Bay, "ever white with sails from every quarter of the habitable globe."
"Those beautiful vessels, robed in purest white, so delightful to the eye of the freemen, were to me so many shrouded ghosts, to terrify and torment me with thoughts of my wretched condition. I have of ten, in the deep stillness of a summer's Sabbath, stood all alone upon the lofty banks of that noble bay, and traced, with saddened heart and tearful eye, the countless number of sails moving off to the mighty ocean. The sight of these always affected me powerfully ... I would pour out my soul's complaint, in my rude way, with an apostrophe to the moving multitude of ships: 'You are loosed from your moorings, and are free; I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before the bloody whip! You are freedom's swift-winged angels, that fly round the world; I am confined in bands of iron! O that I were free! O, that I were on one of your gallant decks, and under your protecting wing!'"
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| 1800s-era sailing boat on Chesapeake Bay (NHHC) |
Douglass daydreams about swimming out to the ships, if only he could swim. He then imagines taking a canoe and heading from Baltimore to Delaware and Pennsylvania.
Imagery of the sea abound in his "Narrative" and subsequent "My Escape from Slavery":
"We sailed out of Miles River for Baltimore on a Saturday morning. I remember only the day of the week, for at that time I had no knowledge of the days of the month, nor the months of the year. On setting sail, I walked aft, and gave to Colonel Lloyd's plantation what I hoped would be the last look. I then placed myself in the bows of the sloop, and there spent the remainder of the day in looking ahead, interesting myself in what was in the distance rather than in things nearby or behind."
"The idea as to how I might learn to write was suggested to me by being in Durgin and Bailey's ship-yard ... When a piece of timber was intended for the larboard side, it would be marked thus –– 'L.' When a piece was for the starboard side, it would be marked thus –– 'S.' A piece for the larboard side forward, would be marked thus –– 'L.F.' When a piece was for starboard side forward, it would be marked thus –– 'S.F.' For larboard aft, it would be marked thus –– 'L.A.' For starboard aft, it would be marked thus –– 'S.A.' I soon learned the names of these letters, and for what they were intended when placed upon a piece of timber in the ship-yard ... During this time, my copy-book was the board fence, brick wall, and pavement; my pen and ink was a lump of chalk. With these, I learned mainly how to write."
"I sailed from Baltimore for St. Michael's in the sloop Amanda, Captain Edward Dodson. On my passage, I paid particular attention to the direction which the steamboats took to go to Philadelphia. I found, instead of going down, on reaching North Point they went up the bay, in a north-easterly direction. I deemed this knowledge of the utmost importance. My determination to run away was again revived. I resolved to wait only so long as the offering of a favorable opportunity. When that came, I was determined to be off."
"I was now getting, as I have said, one dollar and fifty cents per day. I contracted for it; I earned it; it was paid to me; it was rightfully my own; yet, upon each returning Saturday night, I was compelled to deliver every cent of that money to Master Hugh. And why? Not because he earned it, –– not because he had any hand in earning it, –– not because I owed it to him, –– nor because he possessed the slightest shadow of a right to it; but solely because he had the power to compel me to give it up. The right of the grim-visaged pirate upon the high seas is exactly the same."
"...a fugitive slave in a strange land –– a land given up to be the hunting-ground for slaveholders ... where he is every moment subjected to the terrible liability of being seized upon by his fellowmen, as the hideous crocodile seizes upon his prey! ... feeling as if in the midst of wild beasts, whose greediness to swallow up the trembling and half-famished fugitive is only equalled by that with which the monsters of the deep swallow up the helpless fish upon which they subsist ..."
Douglass was taught that the North was poorer than the South because there were no slaves; slavery was the engine driving the economies of the southern states. Without slave labor, the North must be poor and destitute. But, he saw the truth for himself in coastal towns and states.
"In the afternoon of the day when I reached New Bedford, I visited the wharves, to take a view of the shipping. Here I found myself surrounded with the strongest proofs of wealth. Lying at the wharves, and riding in the stream, I saw many ships of the finest model, in the best order, and of the largest size. Upon the right and left, I was walled in by granite warehouses of the widest dimensions, stowed to their utmost capacity with the necessaries and comforts of life. Added to this, almost every body seemed to be at work, but noiselessly so, compared with what I had been accustomed to in Baltimore."
"There were no loud songs heard from those engaged in loading and unloading ships. I heard no deep oaths or horrid curses on the laborer. I saw no whipping of men; but all seemed to go smoothly on. Every man appeared to understand his work, and went at it with a sober, yet cheerful earnestness, which betokened the deep interest which he felt in what he was doing, as well as a sense of his own dignity as a man. To me this looked exceedingly strange. From the wharves I strolled around and over the town, gazing with wonder and admiration at the splendid churches, beautiful dwellings, and finely-cultivated gardens; evincing an amount of wealth, comfort, taste, and refinement, such as I had never seen in any part of slaveholding Maryland."
In his "Narrative," written nearly twenty years before the U.S. Civil War, Douglass is careful not to give details of his escape from slavery so as to protect people and methods. But then nearly twenty years after the war, he felt safe to give some details. In "My Escape from Slavery" (1881) we read again of naval and maritime influences and imagery. "I had a friend –– a sailor –– who owned a sailor's protection, which answered somewhat the purpose of free papers –– describing the person and certifying to the fact that he was a free American sailor. The instrument had at its head the American eagle, which gave it the appearance at once of an authorized document."
"One element in my favor was the kind feeling which prevailed in Baltimore and other sea-ports at the time, towards 'those who go down to the sea in ships.' 'Free trade and sailors' rights' expressed the sentiment of the country just then. In my clothing I was rigged out in sailor style. I had on a red shirt and a tarpaulin hat and 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.'"
"My free life began on the third of September, 1838. On the morning of the 4th of that month, after an anxious and most perilous but safe journey, I found myself in the big city of New York, a free man; one more added to the mighty throng which like the confused waves of the troubled sea, surged to and fro between the lofty walls of Broadway. Though dazzled with the wonders which met me on every hand, my thoughts could not be much withdrawn from my strange situation. For the moment the dreams of my youth, and the hopes of my manhood, were completely fulfilled ... A new world had opened upon me. If life is more than breath, and the 'quick round of blood,' 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."
"I saw the wisdom of keeping away from the ship-yards, for, if pursued, as I felt certain I would be, Mr. Auld would naturally seek me there among the calkers. Every door seemed closed against me. I was in the midst of an ocean of my fellow-men, and yet a perfect stranger to every one. I was without home, without acquaintance, without money, without credit, without work, and without any definite knowledge as to what course to take, or where to look for succor. In such an extremity, a man has something beside his new-born freedom to think of. While wandering about the streets of New York, and lodging at least one night among the barrels on one of the wharves, I was indeed free –– from slavery, but free from food and shelter as well. I kept my secret to myself as long as I could, but was compelled at last to seek some one who should befriend me, without taking advantage of my destitution to betray me. Such a one I found in a sailor named Stuart, a warm-hearted and generous fellow..."
Sailor Stuart's introductions led to vigilance and abolitionist groups and individuals who helped Douglass make his way from New York to Newport, Rhode Island aboard the steamer John W. Richmond.
Despite all he'd been through Douglass remained humble yet strong. He welcomed the opportunity to work. "There was no work too hard –– none too dirty," he writes near the end of "Narrative." "I was ready to saw wood, shovel coal, carry wood, sweep the chimney, or roll oil casks –– all I did for nearly three years in New Bedford, before I became known to the anti-slavery world."
He found his home there in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and discovered his passion as an abolitionist and orator. He concluded his "Narrative" with this dedication: "Sincerely and earnestly hoping this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds –– faithfully relying on the power of truth, love, and justice..."
At the end of each chapter and at the back of the book, they offer reputable online resources for more information. They acknowledge especially VA and DOD resources. The VA offers a bundle of resources through a PTSD website.
