AutobiographiesHenry Louis Gates, Jr. presents the only authoritative edition of all three autobiographies by the escaped slave who became a great American leader. Born a slave, Frederick Douglass educated himself, escaped, and made himself one of the greatest leaders in American history. Here in this Library of America volume are collected his three autobiographical narratives, now recognized as classics of both American history and American literature. Writing with the eloquence and fierce intelligence that made him a brilliantly effective spokesman for the abolition of slavery and equal rights, Douglass shapes an inspiring vision of self-realization in the face of monumental odds. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), published seven years after his escape, was written in part as a response to skeptics who refused to believe that so articulate an orator could ever have been a slave. A powerfully compressed account of the cruelty and oppression of the Maryland plantation culture into which Douglass was born, it brought him to the forefront of the anti-slavery movement and drew thousands, black and white, to the cause. In My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), written after he had established himself as a newspaper editor, Douglass expands the account of his slave years. With astonishing psychological penetration, he probes the painful ambiguities and subtly corrosive effects of black-white relations under slavery, then goes on to recount his determined resistance to segregation in the North. The book also incorporates extracts from Douglass's renowned speeches, including the searing "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, first published in 1881, records Douglass's efforts to keep alive the struggle for racial equality in the years following the Civil War. Now a socially and politically prominent figure, he looks back, with a mixture of pride and bitterness, on the triumphs and humiliations of a unique public career. John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet Beecher Stowe all feature prominently in this chronicle of a crucial epoch in American history. The revised edition of 1893, presented here, includes an account of his controversial diplomatic mission to Haiti. This volume contains a detailed chronology of Douglass's life, notes providing further background on the events and people mentioned, and an account of the textual history of each of the autobiographies. |
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User Review - lanewillson - LibraryThingI knew of Fredrick Douglass as a historical figure, which is to say, I really knew virtually nothing abut the man. Daughter Hannah gave me Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln for ... Read full review
Autobiographies
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictDouglass (1818-95), a former slave, rose to become an abolitionist, writer, and orator. In this collection of his autobiographical writings, edited by Gates (humanities, Harvard Univ.), he gives an ... Read full review
Contents
NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS | 1 |
MY BONDAGE AND MY FREEDOM | 103 |
INTRODUCTION | 125 |
CHAPTER I | 139 |
CHAPTER II | 146 |
Brutal Outrage on my Aunt Milly by a drunken Overseer | 173 |
Conclusions at which he Arrived | 179 |
Food and Clothing of the Slaves | 185 |
Conflict of Hopes and FearsIgnorance of Geography 510 | 303 |
Danger of DiscoverDifficulty of Concealment | 306 |
Passes EatenThe Examination at St Michaels | 320 |
CHAPTER XX | 326 |
LIBERTY ATTAINED | 349 |
Contrast between the North and the South | 355 |
First Acquaintance with the Liberator | 362 |
Becomes a Public Lecturer | 364 |
Beams of Sunlight | 206 |
Kindness of my new MistressLittle Tommy | 212 |
Increased Determination to Learn | 218 |
pursued my EducationMy Tutors | 221 |
Knowledge ever IncreasingMy Eyes Opened | 227 |
New Hopes and Aspirations | 233 |
Sad Prospects and Grief | 239 |
Return to BaltimoreDeath of Mistress Lucretia | 240 |
Allowance of FoodSufferings from Hunger | 246 |
No more Meal brought from the MillMethodist | 252 |
Escape to St MichaelsSuffering in the Woods | 273 |
An AlarmA Friend not an Enemy | 279 |
Coveys Ineffectual Commands for Assistance | 285 |
A Device of Slavery | 288 |
The Reverend Rigby Hopkins | 294 |
Affectionate Relations of Master and Pupils | 300 |
CHAPTER XXIV | 370 |
Time and Labors Abroad | 376 |
Agitation of the Slavery Question | 382 |
Dr Cunninghams SpeechA Striking Incident | 384 |
Motives for going to Rochester | 391 |
Elevation of the Free People of ColorPledge for | 398 |
Letter to his Old Master | 412 |
The Nature of Slavery | 419 |
Inhumanity of Slaver | 425 |
LIFE AND TIMES OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS | 453 |
CHAPTER I | 475 |
CHAPTER III | 482 |
Chronology | 1049 |
Note on the Texts | 1078 |
1109 | |
Common terms and phrases
abolitionists Abraham Lincoln American anti-slavery asked Aunt Katy Baltimore Bedford better blood blow brother called Captain Thomas Auld cause CHAPTER character Charles Sumner church colored condition Covey Covey's cruel cruelty dollars Edward Covey emancipation escape fact favor feeling felt Frederick Douglass freedom Freeland friends fugitive gave give hands Harper's Ferry heart Henry honor hope human John John Brown knew labor lash liberty Lincoln lived Lloyd Lloyd's plantation look Maryland Master Hugh Master Thomas meeting ment Michael's mind mistress moral morning mother nation nature negro never nigger night North old master overseer person present President race reader Rochester seemed slave power slaveholders slavery soon soul South speak speech spirit Talbot county thing thought tion told took Tuckahoe Union United whip William Lloyd Garrison woods words young