Nine stars
At a time when race relations are strained, the name of Frederick Douglass is tossed around with great regularity. It also being Black History Month, I thought to educate myself a little more about the man and the impact he made on US history. Turning to this biography by David W. Blight, I tried my best to understand how the man, his writings and outward sentiments shaped America, with views that still resonate today.
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in a small shed on a plantation in Maryland, around 1817, the mulatto son of a slave and slaveholder. While he was a curious child, Frederick was also subjected to deplorable abuse towards those around him. His being born in the middle of America’s love affair with the slave trade is not lost on the reader who pays attention to the early portion of Blight’s book. Still, young Frederick tried always to see the best in people and sought to better understand what was going on and his place in the larger picture. While he was not permitted to attend school, Frederick paid some of the white children to teach him, usually presenting fresh baked goods to earn his keep. Frederick learned the basics of reading and writing, which would be cornerstones to his future livelihood.
When Frederick grew into adulthood, he discovered more complicated set of writings that would help shape his moral being. Pulling on passages of the Bible and other tomes of the great thinkers, Frederick began to see that there was hope, albeit bleak, out of the slavery that surrounded him, using numerous verses to explain kindness and equality, even though neither seemed possible at this time. This education would be met with some downsides, as Frederick began seeing the harsher side of some people, receiving the lash for speaking out for simply being Black. He tried his hand at odd jobs less out of desire than necessity, but was also prone to getting beaten for the colour of his skin and the apparent lack of speed when working.
When he grew old enough, Frederick took two major chances to shape his future: he changed his name and fled the plantation on which he had been working. Neither would be easy, but both necessary to ensure his future prosperity. Frederick assumed the name FREDERICK DOUGLASS (the repeated final letter to make him stand out) and sought to forget the middle names that had been used as yokes of remembrance from his slaving days. His escape, as Blight explains, was one of need and DIVINE intervention, as he needed to get to the free lands so that he could protect himself and spread the word. Douglass made it to New York after escaping on a train, having been encouraged by Anna Murray, a free black woman. This being the early 1840s, the abolitionist movement was still in its infancy, but Douglass’ oratory skills made him the perfect speaker to decry the horrors of slavery and the need to protect the Back population.
As the years passed, Douglass took Anna as his wife and began a family all while he continued to speak around the North about abolition and the topics of equality. Douglass would become a great orator and a key voice in the equality movements of Blacks, women, and the poor. As Blight explains, Douglass began many speaking engagements across the North and was key to drumming up support to ending slavery. He also made a trip across the Atlantic, when’re Douglass spoke in Ireland and Scotland, though he met some resistance as ‘slavery’ was seen with a much larger definition, hinting at the English control over these peoples.
While Douglass had been doing all he could to pass abolitionist sentiments across the North, there was still little impetus to legislatate an end to slavery. Douglass was well aware that the politicians in Washington (and the state capitals) needed to tackle the issue. It was not until the presidential election of 1860 that the option might have been a reality, with the battle between Democrat Stephen Douglas and Republican Abraham Lincoln. The Republican was staunchly against slavery and stumped on that sentiment, which grew the ire of the South and began a push for secession from the country. When Lincoln was successful at the polls, Douglass hoped that this would usher in change, but the strong-willed politician did not turn that passion into legislation. Instead, the country split and the Civil War began, which would be fought—at least partially—along the slavery/abolition lines. Douglass is said to have been very happy to see the war, as it would ensure that the country answered the question once and for all.
Politics and the Civil War came together for Douglass even more impactfully when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The Proclamation would not only free the slaves, but allow them to serve alongside their brethren for the Union Army. Douglass could not have been prouder, but also cautions, as this meant his son and one son-in-law would soon be serving and could die or face blowback from fellow soldiers not as enlightened as their Commander in Chief. While Lincoln led from the White House, Douglass continued to feel that that passion the Illinoian once felt about slavery waned as the pressure of the national stage befell him.
When an assassin’s bullet killed Lincoln there was little time to mourn, as the country was still in the midst of its Civil War. However, Douglass watched as the Union soldiers tied things off and freedom was soon victorious. This would mean a country in which slavery was done, but fractured as to how it out to move forward. Reconstruction was the next stage, though Washington politicians were sloe to push for its true progress, as Douglass continued to rally from his various pulpits. He would see a country that accepted the tossing off of shackles, but not the complete integration of Blacks. As Blight explores, the Reconstructionist period was slow and hard going for Douglass, who turned to other things, not least of which penning successive volumes of his autobiography to pass the time, The era of slavery was done and its greatest opponent was still hoping for more.
In the latter portion of the tome, Douglass looks to revisit old haunts to see how the years had changed sentiments towards slavery and plantation-style ownership. Douglass took these times to try to understand how his life had come full circle and how that would make for a greater country for his grandchildren and their offspring. Blight explores this in some sentimental passages, as Douglass returned to the place his blood family were torn away from him and how he had to accept his lot in life, at least for a time. With a few more symbolic jobs and a great deal of time to sum up his life, Frederick Douglass basked in the knowledge that he had made a difference, though he would not live to see the equality about which he spoke when he died in 1895.
There is something about a biography that always gets my blood flowing. It could be the moments to learn something new about a person who has done so much, or it might be the entertainment of seeing how the author will portray the many people who grace the pages of the tome. David W. Blight did both numerous times, as I was in awe over all I discovered about one of the great abolitionists. Frederick Douglass was much more than simply a man who sought to toss the shackles of slavery aside. His views resonated decades before the movement to end slavery came into fashion. He used his eloquent ability to speak and write, rallying people all over the world, to see equality as the only way to live, even if it meant a great deal of adversity. Blight highlighted so many parts of Douglass’ life, while speeding over others, all in an attempt tp show readers just how much the man accomplished in his lifetime. Great chapters exhibit the countless themes of freedom, equality, and justice that Douglass sought to make cornerstones of his life, as well as how the America of the time resisted or limped along towards the horizon. While the book is definitely dense and information heavy, the dedicated reader will surely pull something from it that they can take with them, as I did at numerous points. I can only hope that Doug;ass’s views are not lost in the annals of history, either due to the vilification of equal rights or the right’s attempt to accentuate racial inequality. With an election for president coming up in 2024, and a candidate whose views on racial inequality are clear trying to return to his former position of autocratic authority, those who cannot cast a ballot can only hope that America’s return to greatness will have Douglass’ passion for equality in mind, not the suppression of rights through laws and at the hand of police batons.
Kudos, Mr. Blight, on this stunning piece of writing, I did take so much away from it.
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