Book Review: The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was a man of many parts.  Born into slavery, he rose from bondage and forced labor, to become a self-educated man, a charismatic orator, gifted writer, champion of civil rights, honored in England and in France, and an advisor to presidents.

As with most African Americans born into slavey, Douglass did not know the exact date of his birth (he estimated he was born in February, 1817). Like many African slaves, his father was white, while his mother was relocated to another plantation soon after his birth.

Fortunately, Douglass was taught to read by the wife of his owner.  Being around her through much of his youth meant that Douglass learned to speak with a decidedly northern accent.  His relationship with her while close and uplifting, was destined not to last.  Her husband was so hostile to the reading lessons his wife was teaching young Frederick, that she eventually succumbed to his  vile hatred of blacks, and, ironically, became even more cruel to Douglass than her cruel husband.

Frederick Douglass was very bright, and learned to read, write and speak at a very young age.  He detested being a slave and so became reluctant to take directions from his slave masters.  As a result he was sent to a man known for breaking the most obstinate of slaves.  Try as he might, Douglass would not bend under this man's iron will, despite the most brutal of whippings. By this time, Douglass had learned to endure the pain of whippings, no matter how brutally inflicted.  At some point, Douglass began to fight back, and managed to defeat the "slave breaker" in a brutal fist fight.  After that, he was treated with fear and respect.

All the while Douglass was looking for a way to escape to the free North.  His first attempt failed, as one of his fellow slaves betrayed him.  On the second attempt, he managed to allude his captors, and with help from a few sympathetic whites he would encounter, made his way to Boston.

Having been trained as a ship fitter, Douglass landed a job repairing the side of wooden ships. While free from the plantation slave system, he found life difficult in the North, as fugitive slave hunters seemed to be lurking everywhere, and a number of whites were hostile to the color of his skin, particularly in the shipyard where he worked.

Thanks to his wit and mastery of the English language, Douglas soon managed to earn a living as a public speaker, and as a writer for the abolitionist press.  Along the way, Douglass made his home in upstate New York, where he was received with respect and protection.  When Douglass later traveled to England, he was treated with dignity and acceptance.  Later, when he traveled to France, he would receive the same friendly treatment.

Having made his home in Rochester, New York, Douglas would marry, and have two daughters and three sons.  His home would also become a stop on the underground railroad, and he would help several runaway slaves find freedom by arranging passage to Toronto, Canada.

With his keen sense of observation, Douglas describes the North's gradual shift from an indifferent attitude toward slavery in 1840, to one of a dedicated abolition by 1860, with the election of Abraham Lincoln.

In his travels throughout the North, Douglas would meet Harriet Beech Stowe (author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"), and the abolitionists firebrand, John Brown.  Brown recruited Douglas to participate in a planned slave uprising in Maryland. Douglas was prepared to join him, but missed out when John Brown's plans were discovered by a U.S. Army patrol.  John Brown, who provided no defense at his trail, was later hung under the oversight of U.S. General Robert E. Lee.

Douglass' descriptions of Ms. Stowe and John Brown, are poignant, insightful, and make for a fascinating and enlightening read.  As his fame grew, Douglass' writings and speeches caught the attention of president Abraham Lincoln, who invited him to the White House.  Douglass would become the first ever free African American to step inside the Executive Mansion.

ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN

While Douglass believed Lincoln was dragging his feet on outlawing slavery, he would become an outspoken advocate of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.  When the North began winning the war in 1863, Douglass strongly urged the president to enlist newly freed slaves in the Union Army ranks.  When Douglass' two sons became of age they enlisted in the Union Army and fought with bravery and distinction, as did most freed slaves.  Indeed, many Civil War historians, now believe that without former slaves fighting for the Union, the North might very well have lost the Civil War.

Without an invitation, Douglass returned to the executive mansion for a White House reception, celebrating Lincoln's second inauguration.  He was turned away at the door, until Lincoln was made aware of his arrival. Douglass describes what happened next: "Like a mountain pine high above all others, Mr. Lincoln stood in his grand simplicity, and homely beauty. Recognizing me, even before I reached him, he exclaimed, so all could hear him, "Here comes my friend Douglass."  Taking me by the hand, he said, "I am glad to see you.  I saw you in the crowd today, listening to my inaugural address; how did you like it?"  I said, "Mr. Lincoln, I must not detain you with my poor opinion, when here are thousands waiting to shake hands with you."  "No, no," he said, "you must stop a little Douglass; there is no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours.  I want to know what you think of it?"  I replied, "Mr. Lincoln that was a sacred effort." "I am glad you like it!" he said, and I passed on, feeling that any man, however distinguished, might well regard himself honored by such expression, from such a man."

As with most Americans, Douglass was shocked and dismayed by Lincoln's assassination. Having met vice president Andrew Johnson, Douglass was not surprised that the new president did next to nothing in support of the civil rights of freed African Americans.

"THE NEGRO PROBLEM IS A NATIONAL PROBLEM"

It was just the opposite with Ulysses Grant, who was elected president in1868.  Douglass became a frequent guest and advisor to president Grant. Indeed, Douglass spent his post-war years as a tireless and outspoken advocate of Civil Rights. After Grant left office,Douglass saw the Republican Party be converted into a party of monied intersts, rather than a party of humanity and justice,  Of the Supreme Court's decision of 1883, declaring the Civil Rights law of 1875 unconstitutional, a disappointed and dispirited Douglass wrote: "When the black man's arm was needed to defend the country, country was in danger of dismemberment, his rights were well considered.  That the reverses is now true is proof of the fading and defeating effect of time and the transient character of Republican gratitude, and the slaveholding South, from the hour that they began to fraternize with the disloyal even bloody chasm," from the hour the cause of justice to the black man began to decline and lose his hold upon the public mind, and it has lost ground ever since.

Douglass would be first to proclaim that the so-called "Negro problem" was, in fact,  "a national problem."  He said this in1894, one year before he died.

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