Monday

45 min Peer Edit/Reading time

Narrative of Frederick Douglass

Read and analyze this poem. What connections can you make to Douglass‘ Narrative?
 

When it is finally ours, this freedom, this liberty, this beautiful
and terrible thing, needful to man as air,
usable as earth; when it belongs at last to all,
when it is truly instinct, brain matter, diastole, systole,
reflex action; when it is finally won; when it is more
than the gaudy mumbo jumbo of politicians:
this man, this Douglass, this former slave, this Negro
beaten to his knees, exiled, visioning a world
where none is lonely, none hunted, alien,
this man, superb in love and logic, this man
shall be remembered. Oh, not with statues' rhetoric,
not with legends and poems and wreaths of bronze alone,
but with the lives grown out of his life, the lives
fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing.

Robert Hayden 

Homework- Read the next 20 pages in Douglass (should be through chapter 8 for tomorrow).

Tuesday

Read Frederick Douglass’ Bio and answer the following questions in your small group:

1. How did Frederick Douglass’ early experiences with literacy influence his views on slavery and human rights?

2. What role did Frederick Douglass’ autobiographies play in the abolitionist movement and in shaping public perception of slavery?

3. In what ways did Douglass’ personal relationships and marriages reflect the social and racial dynamics of his time?

4. How did Douglass’ experiences in Ireland and Britain contribute to his abolitionist efforts upon returning to the United States?

5. What were the key factors that enabled Douglass to transition from a life of slavery to becoming a prominent intellectual and leader?

Frederick Douglass Narrative

How does Douglass describe slavery?  Analyze both the specific details of what he says and the way and language he uses to describe slavery.

How does Douglass learn to read and write and why is it so important? Think back to this early painting from the Chesapeake Bay colonies. What connections can you make?

Wealth and Southern Culture

From the Aristocrat to the Destitute

Descriptions of Slavery

How did Sectional differences, Slavery, Reform, Transcendentalism and Individualism influence Douglass’s work?

How does knowledge affect Douglass's experience as a slave?

The Narrative of Frederick Douglass

  “My father was a white man. He was admitted to
be such by all I ever heard speak of my parentage.
The opinion was also whispered that my master was

my father; but of the correctness of this opinion, I

know nothing; the means of knowing was withheld

from me.” (13)

Consider and make connections to this Virginia slave law from 1662.

VIRGINIA SLAVE LAWS

December 1662

Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children got by any Englishman upon a Negro woman should be slave or free, be it therefore enacted and declared by this present Grand Assembly, that all children born in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother; and that if any Christian shall commit fornication with a Negro man or woman, he or she so offending shall pay double the fines imposed by the former act.

“The whisper that my master was my father, may or may
not be true; and, true or false, it is of but little con-
sequence to my purpose whilst the fact remains,
in all its glaring odiousness, that slaveholders have
ordained, and by law established, that the children
of slave women shall in all cases follow the condi-
tion of their mothers; and this is done too obviously
to administer to their own lusts, and make a grati-
fication of their wicked desires profitable as well as
pleasurable; for by this cunning arrangement, the
slaveholder, in cases not a few, sustains to his slaves
the double relation of master and father.” (14)

The Economics of Slavery

   “To describe the wealth of Colonel Lloyd would
be almost equal to describing the riches of Job. He
kept from ten to fifteen house-servants. He was said
to own a thousand slaves, and I think this estimate
quite within the truth. Colonel Lloyd owned so
many that he did not know them when he saw them;
nor did all the slaves of the out-farms know him. It
is reported of him, that, while riding along the road
one day, he met a colored man, and addressed him
in the usual manner of speaking to colored people
on the public highways of the south: "Well, boy,
whom do you belong to?" "To Colonel Lloyd," re-
plied the slave. "Well, does the colonel treat you
well?" "No, sir," was the ready reply. "What, does
he work you too hard?" "Yes, sir." "Well, don't he
give you enough to eat?" "Yes, sir, he gives me
enough, such as it is."” 

“They seemed to think that the great-

ness of their masters was transferable to themselves.

It was considered as being bad enough to be a

slave; but to be a poor man's slave was deemed a

disgrace indeed!” (24)

“I knew THEY were exceedingly poor, and I had
been accustomed to regard their poverty as the nec-
essary consequence of their being non-slaveholders.
I had somehow imbibed the opinion that, in the
absence of slaves, there could be no wealth, and very
little refinement. And upon coming to the north, I
expected to meet with a rough, hard-handed, and
uncultivated population, living in the most Spartan-
like simplicity, knowing nothing of the ease, luxury,
pomp, and grandeur of southern slaveholders.” (78)

Read  How Slavery Became the Economic Engine of the South.

Homework- Read the next 20 pages in Douglass (should be halfway through chapter 10).

Wednesday and Thursday

Small Group Discussion Questions:

1. Where and when was Frederick Douglass born? What was his name at birth? What didhe know about his parents?

2. How old was Frederick Douglass when he wrote his narrative?

3. Describe Frederick's relationship with his mother. Include the number of times theysaweach other, what their visits were like, and Frederick's age when she died.

4. What are Douglass's observations about the mulatto children--those who had a slavemother but a white father, who was usually the slave owner?

5. What are Douglass's observations about this class of mulatto slaves in relation to thesouth and the American idea of the correctness of slavery?

6. Who was Douglass's first master? Also name the members of his family. Tell wherethey lived.

7. Describe the slaves' monthly allowance of food and yearly clothing. Describe their beds and bedding.

8. What did Douglass say about the singing of the slaves? How did he feel about thesongs?

9. Describe Colonel Lloyd's method for keeping slaves out of his garden.10. Summarize Douglass's observations about the reasons the slaves usually gave onlypositive, complimentary comments about their masters.

Slave Songs - The Birth of American Music

“Every tone was a testimony against
slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from
chains. The hearing of those wild notes always de-
pressed my spirit, and filled me with ineffable sad-
ness. I have frequently found myself in tears while
hearing them. The mere recurrence to those songs,
even now, afflicts me; and while I am writing these
lines, an expression of feeling has already found its
way down my cheek. To those songs I trace my first
glimmering conception of the dehumanizing char-
acter of slavery. I can never get rid of that concep-
tion. Those songs still follow me, to deepen my
hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for
my brethren in bonds.”

“I have often been utterly astonished, since I came
to the north, to find persons who could speak of
the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their con-
tentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive
of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are
most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the
sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only
as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.” (21)

The Ring Shout

Frederick Douglass wrote about the importance of songs to freedom. Read Songs of Freedom (below):

Songs of Freedom

The seemingly innocent spirituals, as the slave songs came to be known, were more than simple hymns of endurance and a belief in a better afterlife. As sung by slaves and their descendants, the spirituals allowed the slaves to communicate secret messages and information to each other about the Underground Railroad.

The spirituals and their lyrics were part of a sophisticated system that involved no incriminating evidence for plantation owners or overseers to find. Codes imbedded in the spirituals instructed slaves as to when, how and where to escape. They also included warning signals, such as the message of “Wade in the Water”, informing slaves to travel along the riverbank so the dogs giving chase would be thrown off their scent.

Most slaves could not read or write; in fact, it was against the law to teach slaves to read or write. The spirituals provided a means of verbal, coded communication understood only by those in the Underground Railroad. Outsiders generally interpreted the spirituals on a literal level, while slaves knew the meaning of the messages hidden within the words and phrases. Through the words, the refrains, the “call and response” method of singing, and the rhythmic sounds produced by dancing feet, slaves could decipher these hidden meanings.

Songs were a part of the slaves’ daily lives and were a survival tactic as well as a means of coded communication. Field slaves sang while they worked so the plantation overseer knew where they were, and could make sure that they were working.

As with the quilt patterns, spirituals were passed on from location to location.

The coming of the railroad train opened up a faster means of transportation for fleeing slaves, and created a whole new spiritual vocabulary. The word “chariot” was replaced by the word ”train” and other phrases relevant to rail transportation. One example is the spiritual, “The Gospel Train’s a Comin”. The Gospel Train quickly became a code name for the Underground Railroad. When slaves heard this song being sung, they knew that either a conductor was among them, or that fleeing slaves were close by, along with an opportunity to escape.

The spiritual, “This Train is Bound for Glory”, was connected to the Underground Railroad, too, with “glory” meaning freedom. Extra caution was required when singing the train songs, however, as they were easier to interpret by outsiders than the traditional spirituals with their biblical references.

Homework- Finish chapter 10.

Friday

Small Group Discussion Questions:

1. Douglass says that Mr. Gore was "cruel, artful, and obdurate." What are the examplesthat Douglass gives for each of these adjectives about Mr. Gore?

2. What did Mr. Gore do to the slave named Demby? Why did he do this? Whatpunishment did Mr. Gore receive? Why?

3. Who were Mr. Thomas Lanman, Mrs. Hick, and Mr. Beal Bondy? What did each ofthem do? What were the results of their actions?

4. How did Master Daniel Lloyd treat the young Douglass?

5. How old was Douglass when he left the Lloyd plantation? Where did he go? Withwhomdid he live there? What was his job?

6. What did Douglass think about his departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation?

7. To what did Douglass attribute his good fortune?

8. What did Mrs. Auld teach Douglass to do? What did Mr. Auld say when he found out?

9. What did Douglass think about Mr. Auld's comments? What did Douglass decide to do in light of the comments?

10. Compare and contrast the treatment of slaves by the slave owners in the city with theslave owners on the plantations.

Cruelty of Slavery

Connect this passage to the Virginia Law below:

“His horrid crime was not even submitted to judicial investigation. It
was committed in the presence of slaves, and they of

course could neither institute a suit, nor testify

against him; and thus the guilty perpetrator of one of

the bloodiest and most foul murders goes unwhipped

of justice, and uncensured by the community in

which he lives...  I speak advisedly when I say this, -- that killing
a slave, or any colored person, in Talbot county,
Maryland, is not treated as a crime, either by the
courts or the community. Mr. Thomas Lanman, of
St. Michael's, killed two slaves, one of whom he
killed with a hatchet, by knocking his brains out.” (26)

Virginia Law - October 1669

“Whereas the only law in force for the punishment of refractory servants resisting their master, mistress, or overseer cannot be inflicted upon Negroes, nor the obstinacy of many of them be suppressed by other than violent means, be it enacted and declared by this Grand Assembly if any slave resists his master (or other by his master's order correcting him) and by the extremity of the correction should chance to die, that his death shall not be accounted a felony, but the master (or that other person appointed by the master to punish him) be acquitted from molestation, since it cannot be presumed that premeditated malice (which alone makes murder a felony) should induce any man to destroy his own estate.”

“Slavery is an enemy to both slave and slaveholder.”

“But, alas! this kind heart had but a short time to
remain such. The fatal poison of irresponsible power
was already in her hands, and soon commenced its
infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influ-
ence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that
voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave

place to that of a demon.” (31)

Hierarchy of Slaves

  “I had resided but a short time in Baltimore before
I observed a marked difference, in the treatment of
slaves, from that which I had witnessed in the coun-
try. A city slave is almost a freeman, compared with
a slave on the plantation. He is much better fed and
clothed, and enjoys privileges altogether unknown
to the slave on the plantation. There is a vestige of
decency, a sense of shame, that does much to curb
and check those outbreaks of atrocious cruelty so
commonly enacted upon the plantation. He is a des-
perate slaveholder, who will shock the humanity of
his non-slaveholding neighbors with the cries of his
lacerated slave.” (33)

A Description of Social Classes Among the Slaves

Joseph Holt Ingraham was born in Maine and eventually became college professor of languages in Mississippi. In 1836 he published "The Southwest, by a Yankee." He eventfully became a clergyman and write of religion romance novels.

“There are properly three distinct classes of slaves in the South. The first and most intelligent class is composed of the domestic slaves or servants …of the planters. Some of these both read and write and possess a great degree of intelligence, and as the Negro, of the varieties of the human species, is the most imitative, they soon learn the language and readily adopt the manners of the family to which they are attached. . 

…Always about the persons of their masters or mistresses, the domestic slaves obtain a better knowledge of the modes of civilized life than they could do in the field, where Negroes can rise but little above their original African state.  

…The second class is composed of town slaves. …draymen, hostlers, laborers, hucksters, and washwomen, and the heterogeneous multitude of every other occupation who fill the streets of a busy city-for slaves are trained to every kind of manual labor. The blacksmith, cabinetmaker, carpenter, builder, wheelwright-all have one or more slaves laboring at their trades. The Negro is a third arm to every workingman who can possibly save money enough to purchase one. He is emphatically the “right-hand man” of every man.  Even free Negroes cannot do without them; some of them own several, to whom they are the severest masters.

…. The third and lowest class consists of those slaves who are termed field hands. They are, and by necessity always will be, an inferior class to the two former. A native planter… recently informed me that if he conveyed an order to any of his field hands which contained two ideas, he was sure it would not be followed correctly.”  

Joseph Holt Ingraham. The South-West by a Yankee. 2 vols. New York: 1835.

Homework- Finish the book for Monday.

Monday

Drawing a Line 

The Compromise of 1820

The Compromise of 1850

Dred Scott vs. Sandford

Runaway Slaves

“Our reason for taking the water
route was, that we were less liable to be suspected as
runaways; we hoped to be regarded as fishermen;
whereas, if we should take the land route, we should
be subjected to interruptions of almost every kind.
Any one having a white face, and being so disposed,
could stop us, and subject us to examination.”