In the many cities and towns of the north that he had delivered this speech to, he was never interrupted or disturbed. Given the storm of controversy leading up to his visit, the Mayor of Syracuse provided policemen to attend the lecture, along with the Second Onondaga Regiment, whose 45 representatives were armed with muskets.
Frederick Douglass made an effective address and six recruits responded. There have been 23 colored recruits raised in this city and they will be sent forward next week.
On the Tuesday evening June 15, he delivered his third lecture in the Independent Church course. Frederick Douglass said he had appeared before the American people during the last forty years, as a slave, a fugitive slave, a man, a man among men, and at last through the courage of the Republican party, he was able to appear as an American citizen under the flag at last. From that moment on, Frederick knew that education would be his pathway to freedom.
At the age of 20, after several failed attempts, he escaped from slavery and arrived in New York City on Sept. 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 remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition.
I was quite a child, but I well remember it. I never shall forget it whilst I remember any thing. It was the first of a long series of such outrages , of which I was doomed to be a witness and a participant. It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate , the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass. It was a most terrible spectacle. I wish I could commit to paper the feelings with which I beheld it.
Activity 3. Chapter Two: Spirituals, Myth, and the Reality Behind the Song In chapter two of his narrative, Douglass notes the many deprivations slaves experienced, including lack of sufficient food, bedding, rest, and clothing. Captain Lloyd's plantation was called the "Great House Farm" by all of the slaves, and the slaves viewed the Great House Farm as the most desirable place to live, work, or visit: "Few privileges were esteemed higher, by the slaves of the out-farms, than that of being selected to do errands at the Great House Farm.
It was associated in their minds with greatness. A representative could not be prouder of his election to a seat in the American Congress, than a slave on one of the out-farms would be of his election to do errands at the Great House Farm. The class should then read aloud the next paragraph in which Douglass introduces the spirituals, or songs, that the slaves would sing on their way to the Great House: "The slaves selected to go to the Great House Farm, for the monthly allowance for themselves and their fellow-slaves, were peculiarly enthusiastic.
While on their way, they would make the dense old woods, for miles around, reverberate with their wild songs, revealing at once the highest joy and the deepest sadness. They would compose and sing as they went along, consulting neither time nor tune. The thought that came up, came out-if not in the word, in the sound;--and as frequently in the one as in the other.
They would sometimes sing the most pathetic sentiment in the most rapturous tone, and the most rapturous sentiment in the most pathetic tone. Into all of their songs they would manage to weave something of the Great House Farm.
Especially would they do this, when leaving home. They would then sing most exultingly the following words: 'I am going away to the Great House Farm! O, yea! I have sometimes thought that the mere hearing of those songs would do more to impress some minds with the horrible character of slavery, than the reading of whole volumes of philosophy on the subject would do. What seems to be the tone of the spiritual "Great House Farm"?
For what might the phrase "Great House" be a metaphor? Consider the context of the song and evaluate the denotation and connotation of "Great House. What might "home" denote and connote in this song? Have a student read aloud the passage; afterwards have the class state what the spirituals represent to Douglass. The class should consider the following questions: Upon reflection, what does Douglass realize about why slaves sang spirituals and about the basic purpose of the spirituals?
Which of Douglass's descriptive words or phrases in the passage show the extent to which he deplores slavery? Which rhetorical appeals does Douglass use and to what effect? I was myself within the circle, so that I neither saw nor heard as those without might see and hear. They told a tale of woe which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones loud, long, and deep; they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish.
The slave also knew that the deference shown to sailors in a seafaring city such as Baltimore could work to his benefit. Douglass had borrowed the document from a free African American seaman, but he bore little resemblance to the physical description detailed on the piece of paper. Close examination by a railroad official or any authority would reveal the subterfuge and imperil both Douglass and his friend.
To avoid the scrutinizing eyes of the ticket agent inside the station, Douglass waited and jumped on the moving train at the last moment as it began to puff its way north. Douglass pulled the document out of his pocket. The eyes of the conductor were drawn to the authoritative eagle emblazoned on the top rather than to the erroneous physical description. He remained subject to arrest at any moment as the train passed through the slave states of Maryland and Delaware. The faster the train sped, the slower it seemed to drag to the fleeing slave.
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