Frederick Douglass recounts his trip as Frederick Bailey fleeing slavery in 1838 on a train journey from Baltimore, to New York as Frederick Douglass in his short essay My Escape from Slavery. With imagery that allows the reader to experience his trials and worries, the story describes his experiences and hurdles on his way to his new “free life” (Douglass, 1881) in New York. Douglass begins by explaining why he was afraid to write about his escape. He reveals that he was feeling this way for two reasons. First, if he told his narrative of his escape, he would destroy the procedure for future slaves attempting to do the same if it became public. Second, he is concerned that it may jeopardize “those excellent men and women for their heroic boldness,” and even while he “applauds them for freely putting themselves to violent punishment,” he is concerned (Douglass, 1881). Therefore, this story was kept hidden for a long time.
Frederick Douglass begins his voyage by catching a train from Baltimore, Maryland, to Philadelphia. He criticizes the inefficiency of documents that prove he was a freed slave, then proceeds to use one he acquired from a friend. While he was ecstatic to be in New York, he quickly became concerned about being apprehended and returned to servitude. Soon after landing in New York, he encountered a guy named William Dixon, who told him that although he was in the North, there were many “man-hunters,” some of whom were black, willing to return an escaped slave to the South for a fee. Douglass is fortunate in that he meets David Ruggles, an abolitionist who advises him to go to New Bedford, Massachusetts. After learning of his safety, his intended wife, a liberated lady, met him in Baltimore, and they married, then traveled to New Bedford.
Upon arrival, they moved in with Nathan Johnson, another abolitionist. When generating his new paperwork, Nathan is the one who decides to alter Frederick’s last name from Bailey to Douglass. “The inhabitants seemed more able, stronger, healthier, and happier than those of Maryland,” Douglass says of the North’s prosperity (Douglass, 1881). He goes on to describe the difficulties he had while traveling around to different professions to support his family, always returning to the idea that he was a free man to lift his spirits. In essence, while Frederick Douglass was able to escape slavery and make his way to the North, many other enslaved individuals were not so fortunate. Douglass uses pictures to help the reader understand the hardships faced by enslaved African Americans during his days.
Reference
Douglass, F. (1881). My escape from slavery. The Century Illustrated Magazine, 23(1), 125-131.