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Frederick Douglass and William Hall:
Stealing their Freedom
Quote:
Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery by dressing as a sailor. Using
the “free papers” borrowed from a sailor friend, Frederick
boarded a train for New York. On the train, he saw people who knew him
– but, because of the sailor outfit, they didn’t recognize
him. In one terrible moment, he saw a German blacksmith staring at him….the
man’s eyes met his. He was recognized! But the blacksmith didn’t
say a word!
When he got to New York, Frederick Douglass wrote:
{H}ere I am, in the great city of New York, safe and sound, without
loss of blood or bone…A free state around me, and a free earth under
my feet! What a moment was this to me! A whole year was pressed into a
single day. A new World burst upon my agitated vision.
Source: Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom (New York,
1855); Frederick Holland, Frederick Douglass (New York, 1895).
In
Their Own Words: personal stories
WILLIAM HALL: Came to Wisconsin
William Hall was a slave in Tennessee. He told his story to Benjamin Drew
in Canada.
"The overseer tied me to a tree and flooged me with the whip.
Afterward he said he would stake me down (tie his hands and feet to posts
on the ground) and give me a farewell whipping that I would always remember.
While he was eating supper I got off my shoe and slipped off a chain and
ran: I ran….I heard a shouting, hallooing, for dogs to hunt me up….I
went through the woods to a road…traveling all night: lay by all
day, traveled at night…."
William Hall crossed the river into Illinois. He walked to Bloomington
and was “too tired to go another step.” Abolitionists helped
him reach Chicago.
"From the middle of August to the middle of November I dwelt
in no house except in Springfield, [Illinois] sick. Had no bed till I
got to Bloomington. In February I cut wood in Indiana – I went to
Wisconsin and staid till harvest was over. Then came to a particular friend
who…gave me a Testament.
‘Now,’ said he, ‘Square up your business and go to the
lake, for there are men here now, even here where you are living, who
would betray you for half a dollar if they knew where you master is. Cross
the lake: get into Canada.’ I…came to Canada.”
Let’s Talk About It
- Historians know
that slavery has existed in almost every place at some time. Why do
you think that has happened? Why do people make other people slaves?
For any remarks, suggestions, or broken links:
Please email us at:
history@tds.net
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