Contents

Acknowledgments ix A Note on Texts xii Time Line of the Life of xiii Introduction xv Select Bibliography xxvii

PART I. THE AUTIOBIOGRAPHY OF A SLAVE 1. “Gradual Initiation to the Mysteries of Slavery,” Chapter V of My Bondage and My Freedom (New York: Miller, Orton, & Mulligan, 1855) 3 2. “Life in Baltimore,” Chapter X of My Bondage and My Freedom (New York: Miller, Orton, & Mulligan, 1855) 8 3. “The Last Flogging,” Chapter XVII of My Bondage and My Freedom (New York: Miller, Orton, & Mulligan, 1855) 12 4. “Letter to Henry C. Wright,” published in The Liberator, January 29, 1847 21 5. “Letter to My Old Master [Thomas Auld],” published in The Liberator, September 22, 1848 27

PART II. DOUGLASS ON THE LAW, POLITICS, & MORALITY OF ABOLITION 6. “The Constitution and Slavery,” an essay published in The North Star, March 16, 1849 37 7. “Change of Opinion Announced,” an essay published in The Liberator, May 23, 1851 43 8. “Is Civil Government Right?” an essay published in Frederick Douglass’ Paper, October 23, 1851 45 9. “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” a speech delivered in Rochester, New York on July 5, 1852 and published as a pamphlet (Rochester: Lee, Mann, & Company, 1852) 50

v vi Contents 10. “The Fugitive Slave Law,” a speech delivered to the National Free Soil Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 11, 1852 and published in Frederick Douglass’ Paper, August 20, 1852 72 11. “Is It Right and Wise to Kill a Kidnapper?” an essay published in Frederick Douglass’ Paper, June 2, 1854 76 12. “Claims of the Negro Ethnologically Considered,” a speech (commencement address) delivered on July 12, 1854 before the Literary Societies of Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio and published as a pamphlet (Rochester: Lee, Mann, and Company, 1854) 80

PART III. DOUGLASS REFLECTS ON THE IMPENDING CRISIS 13. “The Kansas-Nebraska Bill,” a speech delivered in Chicago, Illinois on October 30, 1854 and published in Frederick Douglass’ Paper, November 24, 1854 93 14. “What Is My Duty as an Anti-Slavery Voter?” an essay published in Frederick Douglass’ Paper, April 25, 1856 108 15. “Fremont and Dayton,” an essay published in Frederick Douglass’ Paper, August 15, 1856 113 16. “The Dred Scott Decision,” a speech delivered at the anniversary of the American Anti-Slavery Society in New York, New York on May 14, 1857 and published as a pamphlet (Rochester: C. P. Dewey, 1857) 119 17. “Letter to James Redpath,” published in The Liberator, July 27, 1860 133 18. “The Prospect in the Future,” an essay published in Douglass’ Monthly, August 1860 135

PART IV. DOUGLASS ON SECESSION AND CIVIL WAR 19. “The Dissolution of the American Union,” an essay published in Douglass’ Monthly, January 1861 141 20. “The New President,” an essay published in Douglass’ Monthly, March 1861 146 21. “The Inaugural Address,” an essay published in Douglass’ Monthly, April 1861 148 22. “Substance of a Lecture [on Secession and the Civil War],” a speech delivered at Zion Church in Rochester, New York on June 16, 1861 and published in Douglass’ Monthly, July 1861 157 Contents vii 23. “The Slaveholders’ Rebellion,” a speech delivered at Himrods Corners, New York, July 4, 1862, published in Douglass’ Monthly, August 1862 164 24. “The President and His Speeches,” an essay published in Douglass’ Monthly, September 1862 180 25. “Remarks of Frederick Douglass [on the Emancipation Proclamation],” a speech delivered at Zion Church in Rochester, New York on December 28, 1862 and published in Douglass’ Monthly, January 1863 184 26. “Why Should a Colored Man Enlist?” an essay published in Douglass’ Monthly, April 1863 187 27. “What the Black Man Wants,” a speech delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, Massachusetts, January 26, 1865 and published in The Liberator, February 10, 1865 191

PART V. REFLECTIONS OF AN “OLD WATCHMAN ON THE WALLS OF LIBERTY”: DOUGLASS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR 28. “Sources of Danger to the Republic,” a speech delivered in St. Louis, Missouri, February 7, 1867 and published in the St. Louis Missouri Democrat, February 8, 1867 199 29. “Our Composite Nationality,” a speech delivered on December 7, 1869 in Boston, Massachusetts and published in Boston Daily Advertiser, December 8, 1869 216 30. “Politics an Evil to the Negro,” an essay published in The New National Era, August 24, 1871 232 31. “The Labor Question,” an essay published in The New National Era, October 12, 1871 235 32. “Oration of Frederick Douglass Delivered on the Occasion of the Unveiling of the Freedmen’s Monument in Memory of Abraham Lincoln,” a speech delivered in Washington, DC, on April 14, 1876 and published as a pamphlet (Washington, DC: Gibson Brothers Printers, 1876) 239 33. “Extract from a speech on the West India Emancipation,” delivered in Elmira, New York on August 1, 1880 and published as an Appendix in The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Hartford, CT: Park Publishing Company, 1881) 249 viii Contents 34. “John Brown,” a speech delivered in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia at the Fourteenth Anniversary of Storer College on May 30, 1881 and published as John Brown: An Address by Frederick Douglass at the Fourteenth Anniversary of Storer College, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, May 30, 1881 (Dover, NH: Morningstar Job Printing House, 1881) 258 35. “Decoration Day,” a speech delivered at Franklin Square in Rochester, New York on May 30, 1882 and published in the Rochester Daily Union and Advertiser, May 30, 1882 276 36. “It Moves, or the Philosophy of Reform,” a speech delivered to the Bethel Literary and Historical Association in Washington, DC, on November 20, 1883 and published as a pamphlet (Washington, DC: Bethel Literary and Historical Association, 1883) 286 37. “Address to the Annual Meeting of the New England Woman Suffrage Association,” a speech delivered in Boston, Massachusetts, May 24, 1886 and published as “Frederick Douglass on Woman Suffrage” in the Boston Women’s Journal, June 5, 1886 301 38. “The Nation’s Problem,” a speech delivered before the Bethel Literary and Historical Society in Washington, DC, on April 16, 1889 and published as a pamphlet titled, The Nation’s Problem: A Speech Delivered by Frederick Douglass, Before the Bethel Literary and Historical Society, in Washington, D.C. (Washington, DC: Bethel Literary and Historical Society, 1889) 314 39. “Self-Made Men,” a speech delivered at the Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, March of 1893 and published as a pamphlet (Carlisle: Indian Print, 1893) 332 40. “The Blessings of Liberty and Education,” a speech delivered at Manassas Industrial School in Manassas, Virginia, September 3, 1894 and published in the Richmond Dispatch, September 4, 1894 350

Index 361