Frederick Douglass: The Missing Escape
While we reading the "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass" which was written by Frederick Douglass, I noticed that he went into great detail in the brutality of life as slave. But he did not over his entire escape from this brutal life. At the time he did not include the story in order to protect those that aided him and the method in which he used. I have grown curious as to how Frederick Douglass actually escaped and did some additional research.
Frederick Douglass later told the story of his escape in 1881, 36 years after he published his autobiography. His escape from the life slavery went like this:
Douglass dressed as a free black sailor and was able to maintain this con because of his previous experience of the sea. He borrowed the needed papers from a free African-American seaman and hoped for the best. The person on the papers looked nothing like him, so when he got onto the train he was extremely nervous of being caught. When the conductor came to check the papers, Douglass showed him the eagle on the papers and that was enough to convince him. He traveled anxiously as the train traveled through Maryland and Delaware, until finally arriving at New York. From there he hid with an abolitionist friend and the story continues on as is in the book.
This is a summarized version of the story, but it is still interesting. In around 24 hours from starting his escape, he became a free man.
Source: http://www.history.com/news/frederick-douglass-escapes-slavery-175-years-ago
Frederick Douglass later told the story of his escape in 1881, 36 years after he published his autobiography. His escape from the life slavery went like this:
Douglass dressed as a free black sailor and was able to maintain this con because of his previous experience of the sea. He borrowed the needed papers from a free African-American seaman and hoped for the best. The person on the papers looked nothing like him, so when he got onto the train he was extremely nervous of being caught. When the conductor came to check the papers, Douglass showed him the eagle on the papers and that was enough to convince him. He traveled anxiously as the train traveled through Maryland and Delaware, until finally arriving at New York. From there he hid with an abolitionist friend and the story continues on as is in the book.
This is a summarized version of the story, but it is still interesting. In around 24 hours from starting his escape, he became a free man.
Source: http://www.history.com/news/frederick-douglass-escapes-slavery-175-years-ago
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