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Often appears with: conquest, plunder, and captives · fate, destiny, and necessity · crime and punishment · religious persecution and toleration · voyages and seafaring · slavery and bondage · justice as a virtue · diplomacy and embassies · custom and the manners of a people · naval warfare and sea power · conspiracy and assassination · the fear of death
Usually: narrative (278) · captivity (147) · detachment (131) · the test or trial (65) · curiosity (58) · confronting death (55) · lament (51) · indignation (46) · wonder (46) · betrayal (41)
“The plan we finally concluded upon was, to get a large canoe belonging to Mr. Hamilton, and upon the Saturday night previous to Easter holidays, paddle directly up the Chesapeake Bay.” Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an Amer · observation
“A swarm of slave traders, and agents for slave traders, flocked into jail to look at us, and to ascertain if we were for sale.” Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an Amer · observation
“I would allow myself to suffer under the greatest imputations which evil-minded men might suggest, rather than exculpate myself, and thereby run the hazard of closing the slightest avenue by which a brother slave might clear himself of the chains and fetters of slavery.” Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an Amer · precept
“The motto which I adopted when I started from slavery was this—“Trust no man!” Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an Amer · precept
“No man can tell the intense agony which is felt by the slave, when wavering on the point of making his escape.” Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom · observation
“With us it was a doubtful liberty, at best, that we sought; and a certain, lingering death in the rice swamps and sugar fields, if we failed.” Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom · insight
“The week before our intended start, I wrote a pass for each of our party, giving them permission to visit Baltimore, during the Easter holidays.” Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom · observation
“Master Thomas said that the evidence he had of our intention to run away, was strong enough to hang us, in a case of murder.” Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom · observation
“You are loosed from your moorings, and free; I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before the bloody whip!” Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom · vivid
“In the midst of thousands of my fellowmen, and yet a perfect stranger! In the midst of human brothers, and yet more fearful of them than of hungry wolves!” Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom · observation
“Commanded on Achilles’ tomb to die, Not forc’d, like us, to hard captivity, Or in a haughty master’s arms to lie.” Virgil, The Aeneid · observation
“You must not betray me—see here!” And I actually beheld,” said the Major, “between his body and his shirt, the skin and hair of an English head, still dripping with gore.” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America — Volume 1 · vivid
Douglass arranges for Isaac Rolls to deliver his baggage at the moment the train departs, boards secretly in motion, and relies on his sailor disguise and knowledge while a conductor doubts him.
did not describe its bearer very accurately. Indeed, it called for a man much darker than myself, and close examination of it would have caused my arrest at the start. In order to avoid this fatal scrutiny on the part of railroad officials, I arranged with Isaac Rolls, a Baltimore hackman, to bring my baggage to the Philadelphia train just on the moment of starting, and jumped upon the car myself when the train was …
While traveling from Baltimore toward Philadelphia, Douglass faces dangers at Maryland and state borders, ferries at Havre de Grace, recognition by Captain McGowan and a German blacksmith, and especially fears Wilmington.
me, even in my sailor “rig,” and report me to the conductor, who would then subject me to a closer examination, which I knew well would be fatal to me. Though I was not a murderer fleeing from justice, I felt perhaps quite as miserable as such a criminal. The train was moving at a very high rate of speed for that epoch of railroad travel, but to my anxious mind it was moving far too slowly. Minutes were hours, and h…
After arriving in Philadelphia and learning how to go to New York via William Street depot, Douglass reaches New York Tuesday morning, September 4, 1838, as a free man and reflects on joy.
directed me to the William-street depot, and thither I went, taking the train that night. I reached New York Tuesday morning, having completed the journey in less than twenty-four hours. My free life began on the third of September, 1838. On the morning of the fourth of that month, after an anxious and most perilous but safe journey, I found myself in the big city of New York, a *free man*—one more added to the migh…
Douglass describes how Stuart shelters him and takes him to David Ruggles and the New York Vigilance Committee, leading to hiding, marriage to his wife (Rev. J. W. C. Pennington), and later passage to Massachusetts.
betrayer. Under this apprehension, as I suppose, he showed signs of wishing to be rid of me, and with whitewash brush in hand, in search of work, he soon disappeared. This picture, given by poor “Jake,” of New York, was a damper to my enthusiasm. My little store of money would soon be exhausted, and since it would be unsafe for me to go on the wharves for work, and I had no introductions elsewhere, the prospect for …
In August 1665 Pepys and others check weekly plague bills around Dagenhams, amid fears of sick neighbors, forced burials, and a frantic incident involving a plague-infected maid in a pest coach.
Lady do confess exceedingly, and the latter do also now call me cozen, which I am glad of. So God preserve us all friends long, and continue health among us. AUGUST 3, 1665. To Dagenhams. All the way people, citizens, walking to and fro, enquire how the plague is in the City this week by the Bill; which by chance, at Greenwich, I had heard was 2020 of the plague, and 3000 and odd of all diseases. By and by met my…
After a night at Windsor’s Carteret chamber, Pepys surveys the surroundings, travels by water at night fearing plague corpses, and observes coffins and unburied plague bodies watched by guards.
So to sleep; being very well, but weary, and, the better by having carried with me a bottle of strong water; whereof now and then a sip did me good. 20th. I up and to walk forth to see the place; and I find it to be a very noble seat in a noble forest, with the noblest prospect towards Windsor, and round about over many countys, that can be desired; but otherwise a very melancholy place, and little variety save onl…
Mercury flies to Calypso’s island, finds Ulysses weeping on the shore, and delivers Zeus’s command that Calypso must release him so he can reach Scheria and then Ithaca.
he got to the island which was his journey’s end, he left the sea and went on by land till he came to the cave where the nymph Calypso lived. He found her at home. There was a large fire burning on the hearth, and one could smell from far the fragrant reek of burning cedar and sandal wood. As for herself, she was busy at her loom, shooting her golden shuttle through the warp and singing beautifully. Round her cave t…
Calypso swears an oath by the waters of the river Styx that she will not harm Ulysses, then prepares to help him build and depart, providing food, drink, clothes, and later materials for the raft.
such a distant voyage: nothing that you can say or do shall make me go on board a raft unless you first solemnly swear that you mean me no mischief.” Calypso smiled at this and caressed him with her hand: “You know a great deal,” said she, “but you are quite wrong here. May heaven above and earth below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx—and this is the most solemn oath which a blessed god can take—th…
To escape after the blinding, Odysseus hides under ram-bellies with the men tied to sheep, leaves when the Cyclops inspects the flock, and then sails off laughing despite his companions’ pleas.
in the doorway and stretched his hands in front of it to catch anyone going out with the sheep, for he thought I might be foolish enough to attempt this. “As for myself I kept on puzzling to think how I could best save my own life and those of my companions; I schemed and schemed, as one who knows that his life depends upon it, for the danger was very great. In the end I deemed that this plan would be the best; the …
After the cattle sacrifice, Jove and the gods destroy the ship with lightning and a western squall; Ulysses survives by lashing the mast to the keel, clings to the fig tree over Charybdis, and is finally stranded for nine days on Ogygia with Calypso before ending his account.
was well sheltered from the wind, I washed my hands and prayed to all the gods in Olympus till by and by they sent me off into a sweet sleep. “Meanwhile Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel to the men, ‘Listen to me,’ said he, ‘my poor comrades. All deaths are bad enough but there is none so bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the best of these cows and offer them in sacrifice to the immortal gods? If we ev…
Ulysses notices the neglected hunting dog Argos, whose loyalty and recognition confirm Ulysses’ presence before the dog dies; then Telemachus has Ulysses beg among the suitors at the household threshold.
say, therefore—and it shall surely be—if he goes near Ulysses’ house he will get his head broken by the stools they will fling at him, till they turn him out.” On this, as he passed, he gave Ulysses a kick on the hip out of pure wantonness, but Ulysses stood firm, and did not budge from the path. For a moment he doubted whether or no to fly at Melanthius and kill him with his staff, or fling him to the ground and be…
Menelaus explains his twenty-day delay at Pharos near Aegyptus, describes how Eidothee tells him to capture Proteus, and relays her detailed ambush method involving three men and holding Proteus through shape-changing.
[10] The only name for the Nile in Homer. Cf. Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians (1878), vol. i., p. 7. “‘Art thou so very foolish, stranger, and feeble-witted, or art thou wilfully remiss, and hast pleasure in suffering? So long time art thou holden in the isle and canst find no issue therefrom, while the heart of thy company faileth within them?’ “Even so she spake, and I answered her saying: ‘I will speak forth, what …
Eidothee creates a trap at sea-shore: Menelaus and his men lie hidden with seal skins, neutralize the stench with ambrosia, seize Proteus as he transforms, then Menelaus learns Proteus’s demand for hecatombs and an additional return passage to Aegyptus.
let the ancient one go free, and ask him which of the gods is hard upon thee, and as touching thy returning, how thou mayest go over the teeming deep.’ “Therewith she dived beneath the heaving sea, but I betook me to the ships where they stood in the sand, and my heart was darkly troubled as I went. But after I had come down to the ship and to the sea, and we had made ready our supper and immortal night had come on,…
Odysseus escapes the Cyclops Polyphemus by binding three rams together so his men ride beneath them, clinging under the best ram until dawn when Polyphemus checks the flock and sends it out.
handling thee in thy solitude, it can in no wise be that thou shouldest escape the sickness sent by mighty Zeus. Nay, pray thou to thy father, the lord Poseidon.’ “On this wise they spake and departed; and my heart within me laughed to see how my name and cunning counsel had beguiled them. But the Cyclops, groaning and travailing in pain, groped with his hands, and lifted away the stone from the door of the cave, an…
The Sirens claim knowledge of the Trojan War and all future events, Odysseus orders his men to unbind him but they bind him instead, then after passing they remove wax and immediately face smoke and fear as Scylla and Charybdis approaches.
the sound of a man’s shout from the land, we fleeing swiftly on our way, the Sirens espied the swift ship speeding toward them, and they raised their clear-toned song: “‘Hither, come hither, renowned Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans, here stay thy barque, that thou mayest listen to the voice of us twain. For none hath ever driven by this way in his black ship, till he hath heard from our lips the voice sweet as…
Odysseus recounts his Cretan lineage, past wars, the voyage from Crete to Egypt, a massacre and enslavement plot, his seven-year stay with an Egyptian king, then betrayal by a Phoenician who intends to sell him in Libya.
for a whole year, nor yet make a full end of telling all the troubles of my spirit, all the travail I have wrought by the will of the gods. “I avow that I come by lineage from wide Crete, and am the son of a wealthy man. And many other sons he had born and bred in the halls, lawful born of a wedded wife; but the mother that bare me was a concubine bought with a price. Yet Castor son of Hylax, of whose blood I avow m…
Odysseus continues his story: after being taken to Phoenicia, he is clothed again, learns about Odysseus from the king, is sent on to Thesprotian ships to Dulichium, then escapes a planned enslavement in Ithaca by swimming away.
me to his house, foredone with toil and the keen air, till he came to his father’s palace. And he clothed me in a mantle and a doublet for raiment. “There I heard tidings of Odysseus, for the king told me that he had entertained him, and kindly entreated him on his way to his own country; and he showed me all the wealth that Odysseus had gathered, bronze and gold and well-wrought iron; yea it would suffice for his c…
Outside the gates, Odysseus speaks to the neatherd and swineherd to test their loyalty, reveals his identity and wound token, and instructs them to bar doors and hold positions during the coming fight.
they were greatly lacking of such might. And Antinous still held to the task and godlike Eurymachus, chief men among the wooers, who were far the most excellent of all. But those other twain went forth both together from the house, the neatherd and the swineherd of godlike Odysseus; and Odysseus passed out after them. But when they were now gotten without the gates and the courtyard, he uttered his voice and spake t…
Darwin argues that many trees have separated male and female flowers, allowing pollen to move between flowers and trees, and that terrestrial animals rarely if ever self-fertilise, unlike aquatic animals aided by currents.
are crossed the case is directly the reverse, for a plant’s own pollen is always prepotent over foreign pollen; but to this subject we shall return in a future chapter. In the case of a gigantic tree covered with innumerable flowers, it may be objected that pollen could seldom be carried from tree to tree, and at most only from flower to flower on the same tree, and that flowers on the same tree can be considered as…
A Levite couple hides their newborn, sets Moses afloat in a bulrush basket where Pharaoh’s daughter adopts him, Moses kills an Egyptian, flees to Midian, marries Zipporah, and Israel’s suffering reaches God.
And there went a man of the house of Levi and took a daughter of Levi. And the wife conceived and bare a son. And when she saw that it was a proper child, she hid him three months long. And when she could no longer hide him, she took a basket of bulrushes and daubed it with slime and pitch, and laid the child therein, and put it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wete what would come…
It adds that Israel will be brought back to Egypt by ships, sold to enemies as slaves and slavewomen, and yet receive no buyers to redeem them.
And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way which I bade thee that thou shouldst see it no more. And there ye shall be sold unto your enemies, for bondmen and bondwomen: and yet no man shall buy you.
Jesus prays further before the arrest, crosses the brook Cedron into a garden, is identified by lantern-bearing soldiers, and is bound after Peter cuts off Malchus’s ear in response.
I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, have I kept, and none of them is lost, but that lost child, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Now come I to thee, and these words speak I in the world, that they might have my joy full in them. I have given them thy doctrine, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I desire not that thou shouldest take t…
Hannibal dispatches commissaries and sends chosen Carthaginian-allied youth to Carthage as garrison and hostages, then assigns his brother Hasdrubal Spain with a large mixed army and fleet before marching north from Gades.
time having sent commissaries into the different states, he orders four thousand chosen youth whom they had levied to be conducted to Carthage, both as a garrison and as hostages. 22. Thinking also that Spain ought not to be neglected (and the less because he was aware that it had been traversed by the Roman ambassadors, to influence the minds of the chiefs,) he assigns that province to his brother Hasdrubal, a man …
At the start of 1835 Douglass refuses to stay only as a slave on others’ land, prepares for a final escape effort, consults with fellow enslaved men about freedom, and weighs Canada and the north’s dangers.
moved separately. We were one; and as much so by our tempers and dispositions, as by the mutual hardships to which we were necessarily subjected by our condition as slaves. At the close of the year 1834, Mr. Freeland again hired me of my master, for the year 1835. But, by this time, I began to want to live *upon free land* as well as *with Freeland;* and I was no longer content, therefore, to live with him or any ot…
Douglass and companions plan a canoe escape up the Chesapeake Bay toward freedom beyond Maryland, create forged-looking “protections” for travel, and intensify their resolve amid life-or-death risks.
suffering hunger and nakedness,—we were overtaken by our pursuers, and, in our resistance, we were shot dead upon the spot! I say, this picture sometimes appalled us, and made us “rather bear those ills we had, Than fly to others, that we knew not of.” In coming to a fixed determination to run away, we did more than Patrick Henry, when he resolved upon liberty or death. With us it was a doubtful liberty at most, an…
Frederick describes how their planned escape is discovered: four white men and two tied Black men arrive, constables seize him, and he is bound for examination before his master.
labor, but with bosoms highly agitated with thoughts of our truly hazardous undertaking. We tried to conceal our feelings as much as possible; and I think we succeeded very well. After a painful waiting, the Saturday morning, whose night was to witness our departure, came. I hailed it with joy, bring what of sadness it might. Friday night was a sleepless one for me. I probably felt more anxious than the rest, becaus…
En route to St. Michael’s and then Easton jail, Frederick coordinates resistance with “Own nothing,” later faces slave traders who taunt them and try to assess their sale value.
attending the scuffle caused them either to forget, or to deem it unsafe, under the circumstances, to search. So we were not yet convicted of the intention to run away. When we got about half way to St. Michael’s, while the constables having us in charge were looking ahead, Henry inquired of me what he should do with his pass. I told him to eat it with his biscuit, and own nothing; and we passed the word around, “*O…
After holidays, Hamilton and Freeland take Henry, John, and Charles from Easton jail while Frederick is left alone; a week later Captain Auld sends him away then returns him to Baltimore.
they would curse and swear at us, telling us that they could take the devil out of us in a very little while, if we were only in their hands. While in jail, we found ourselves in much more comfortable quarters than we expected when we went there. We did not get much to eat, nor that which was very good; but we had a good clean room, from the windows of which we could see what was going on in the street, which was ve…
Frederick introduces his escape narrative while refusing to disclose all details, arguing that too much information endangers other enslaved people and aids slaveholders.
I now come to that part of my life during which I planned, and finally succeeded in making, my escape from slavery. But before narrating any of the peculiar circumstances, I deem it proper to make known my intention not to state all the facts connected with the transaction. My reasons for pursuing this course may be understood from the following: First, were I to give a minute statement of all the facts, it is not on…
In early 1838 Frederick grows restless, tries to hire his time to buy freedom, is refused by Master Thomas who warns him against planning; Frederick continues thinking despite instruction.
now proceed to the statement of those facts, connected with my escape, for which I am alone responsible, and for which no one can be made to suffer but myself. In the early part of the year 1838, I became quite restless. I could see no reason why I should, at the end of each week, pour the reward of my toil into the purse of my master. When I carried to him my weekly wages, he would, after counting the money, look m…
Douglass recounts his emotional struggle as his escape date approaches, then on September 3, 1838 leaves slavery and reaches New York successfully, without explaining the route or method.
gave me twenty-five cents, (quite a large sum for a slaveholder to give a slave,) and bade me to make a good use of it. I told him I would. Things went on without very smoothly indeed, but within there was trouble. It is impossible for me to describe my feelings as the time of my contemplated start drew near. I had a number of warmhearted friends in Baltimore,—friends that I loved almost as I did my life,—and the th…
After reaching New York, Douglass describes intense excitement followed by fear of being kidnapped back into slavery, adopting the motto “Trust no man!” and comparing his situation to hunters and predators.
the slightest interruption of any kind. How I did so,—what means I adopted,—what direction I travelled, and by what mode of conveyance,—I must leave unexplained, for the reasons before mentioned. I have been frequently asked how I felt when I found myself in a free State. I have never been able to answer the question with any satisfaction to myself. It was a moment of the highest excitement I ever experienced. I sup…
After landing in the safe harbor, Achates revives fire, the Trojans dry food, feast from seven shared kills, and Aeneas urges endurance while they mourn missing friends, ending the day at rest.
this happy harbour meet, The thin remainders of the scatter’d fleet. The Trojans, worn with toils, and spent with woes, Leap on the welcome land, and seek their wish’d repose. First, good Achates, with repeated strokes Of clashing flints, their hidden fire provokes: Short flame succeeds; a bed of wither’d leaves The dying sparkles in their fall receives: Caught into life, in fiery fumes they …
Hecuba-like Andromache questions whether Aeneas comes ashore because fate or storms have carried him, and asks how Ascanius and his family survive after Troy’s fall.
restor’d? Still are you Hector’s? or is Hector fled, And his remembrance lost in Pyrrhus’ bed?’ With eyes dejected, in a lowly tone, After a modest pause she thus begun: “‘O only happy maid of Priam’s race, Whom death deliver’d from the foes’ embrace! Commanded on Achilles’ tomb to die, Not forc’d, like us, to hard captivity, Or in a haughty master’s arms to lie. In Grecian ships unhapp…
Aeneas and his crew rescue Achaemenides from a Cyclops’ cave, where he survived by eating roots and berries and blinded Polyphemus with Ulysses’ crew.
one star was kindled in the sky, Nor could the moon her borrow’d light supply; For misty clouds involv’d the firmament, The stars were muffled, and the moon was pent. “Scarce had the rising sun the day reveal’d, Scarce had his heat the pearly dews dispell’d, When from the woods there bolts, before our sight, Somewhat betwixt a mortal and a sprite, So thin, so ghastly meager, and so wan, …
Equiano begins Chapter II by introducing his birth context, describing his family life and training in war, then narrating his childhood kidnapping with his sister, their separation, and his subsequent enslavement.
or an instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow. I have already acquainted the reader with the time and place of my birth. My father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family, of which seven lived to grow up, including myself and a sister, who was the only daughter. As I was the youngest of the sons, I beca…
He continues the kidnapping story: he tries to call for help but is restrained and put in a sack, separated from his sister, and later becomes enslaved by a chieftain and a smith working bellows to process gold.
I had now some hopes of being delivered; for we had advanced but a little way before I discovered some people at a distance, on which I began to cry out for their assistance: but my cries had no other effect than to make them tie me faster and stop my mouth, and then they put me into a large sack. They also stopped my sister's mouth, and tied her hands; and in this manner we proceeded till we were out of the sight of…
Equiano describes his efforts to escape toward his father’s home after learning sun-rise direction, then explains how an accident killing chickens leads to his hiding in the bushes and being searched.
and I had observed that my father's house was towards the rising of the sun. I therefore determined to seize the first opportunity of making my escape, and to shape my course for that quarter; for I was quite oppressed and weighed down by grief after my mother and friends; and my love of liberty, ever great, was strengthened by the mortifying circumstance of not daring to eat with the free-born children, although I w…
After hiding through a day, he compares himself to a hunted deer, suffers fear of snakes, collapses at a kitchen and ashes, is discovered, and is spared with only light reprimand before being sold again.
I had before entertained hopes of getting home, and I had determined when it should be dark to make the attempt; but I was now convinced it was fruitless, and I began to consider that, if possibly I could escape all other animals, I could not those of the human kind; and that, not knowing the way, I must perish in the woods. Thus was I like the hunted deer:
Equiano describes traveling through Africa with relative ease of communication, then meeting his sister unexpectedly, briefly reuniting, and later being forcibly separated again under slavery.
the roads, at proper distances, to accommodate the merchants and travellers, who lay in those buildings along with their wives, who often accompany them; and they always go well armed. From the time I left my own nation I always found somebody that understood me till I came to the sea coast. The languages of different nations did not totally differ, nor were they so copious as those of the Europeans, particularly th…
After his sister is taken, Equiano is resold and travels to Tinmah, where he is sold with cocoa-nuts and sugar-cane, then is hurriedly seized again among people who do not circumcise.
the violence of the African trader, the pestilential stench of a Guinea ship, the seasoning in the European colonies, or the lash and lust of a brutal and unrelenting overseer. I did not long remain after my sister. I was again sold, and carried through a number of places, till, after travelling a considerable time, I came to a town called Tinmah, in the most beautiful country I have yet seen in Africa. It was extre…
Around 1763 Equiano’s master forces him to sail with Captain Thomas Farmer of a Bermudas sloop, limiting opportunities to escape while improving Equiano’s treatment and usefulness aboard.
were very sulphurous; and the silver shoe buckles, and all the other things of that metal we had among us, were, in a little time, turned as black as lead. Some time in the year 1763 kind Providence seemed to appear rather more favourable to me. One of my master's vessels, a Bermudas sloop, about sixty tons, was commanded by one Captain Thomas Farmer, an Englishman, a very alert and active man, who gained my master …
Equiano decides navigation knowledge could help him escape if mistreated, hires the mate to teach him, refuses a near-easy chance to board a French fleet for Europe out of loyalty, and continues being blocked by others’ objections.
Scenes where fair Liberty in bright array Makes darkness bright, and e'en illumines day; Where nor complexion, wealth, or station, can Protect the wretch who makes a slave of man." I determined to make every exertion to obtain my freedom, and to return to Old England. For this purpose I thought a knowledge of navigation might be of use to me; for, though I did not intend to run away unless I should be ill used, yet,…
Near the end of 1764 Equiano sails on his master’s larger sloop, trades with Georgia and Charles Town, then works toward a 1765 voyage to Philadelphia, hoping to buy his freedom and see Philadelphia.
About the latter end of the year 1764 my master bought a larger sloop, called the Providence, about seventy or eighty tons, of which my captain had the command. I went with him into this vessel, and we took a load of new slaves for Georgia and Charles Town. My master now left me entirely to the captain, though he still wished for me to be with him; but I, who always much wished to lose sight of the West Indies, was n…
Before sailing to Philadelphia, Equiano’s master sells his fear by offering him for purchase, but Equiano refuses a plan to live with another severe master and argues he has never tried to run away, leading to promises of freedom.
for the gentleman that wanted to buy me came off several times on board of us, and spoke to me to live with him, and said he would use me well. When I asked what work he would put me to he said, as I was a sailor, he would make me a captain of one of his rice vessels. But I refused: and fearing, at the same time, by a sudden turn I saw in the captain's temper, he might mean to sell me, I told the gentleman I would no…
Equiano learns his mate lied to his master about Equiano planning to escape, receives silver and future credit in rum and sugar, and arrives in Philadelphia where he finds goods plentiful and cheap.
The captain then informed my master, who had been thus imposed on by our mate, though I did not know who was my enemy, the reason the mate had for imposing this lie upon him; which was, because I had acquainted the captain of the provisions the mate had given away or taken out of the vessel. This speech of the captain was like life to the dead to me, and instantly my soul glorified God; and still more so on hearing m…
Equiano in 1766 drives toward freedom, sails with his captain on Mr. King’s ships to Philadelphia, sells goods to Quakers, visits Quaker meetings and hears Rev. George Whitefield preach.
of Mr. King's ships, and sails for Georgia--Impositions on free negroes as usual--His venture of turkies--Sails for Montserrat, and on his passage his friend, the Captain, falls ill and dies._ Every day now brought me nearer my freedom, and I was impatient till we proceeded again to sea, that I might have an opportunity of getting a sum large enough to purchase it. I was not long ungratified; for, in the beginning o…
In Philadelphia Equiano contrasts Quaker worship with crowded churches where Rev. George Whitfield preaches, then leaves for Montserrat; setbacks delay his plan as his master orders detours via St. Eustatia and Georgia.
I thought this a strange sight, as I had never seen churches, either in England or the West Indies, crowded in this manner before. I therefore made bold to ask some people the meaning of all this, and they told me the Rev. Mr. George Whitfield was preaching. I had often heard of this gentleman, and had wished to see and hear him; but I had never before had an opportunity. I now therefore resolved to gratify myself wi…
Near Savannah Equiano narrowly avoids kidnapping by two white men claiming he is a lost person, then ships on the sloop Speedwell, and performs a burial funeral at a grave in Martinique-bound travel.
by law. I then immediately sent for Doctor Brady, who was known to be an honest and worthy man; and on his coming to my assistance they let me go. This was not the only disagreeable incident I met with while I was in this place; for, one day, while I was a little way out of the town of Savannah, I was beset by two white men, who meant to play their usual tricks with me in the way of kidnapping. As soon as these men …
Equiano recounts being hoisted at gunpoint without trial, threatened with shooting, then escaping in a canoe during confusion and reaching another owner’s shore with provisions to continue by canoe.
*Musquito Shore, June 15, 1776.* Though I was much attached to the doctor, I was happy when he consented. I got every thing ready for my departure, and hired some Indians, with a large canoe, to carry me off. All my poor countrymen, the slaves, when they heard of my leaving them, were very sorry, as I had always treated them with care and affection, and did every thing I could to comfort the poor creatures, and rend…
Equiano continues inland by canoe to find a Musquito admiral, travels through lagoons and swamps despite high sea and musquito flies, and reaches his destination after days of difficult travel.
Thus I hung, without any crime committed, and without judge or jury; merely because I was a free man, and could not by the law get any redress from a white person in those parts of the world. I was in great pain from my situation, and cried and begged very hard for some mercy; but all in vain. My tyrant, in a great rage, brought a musquet out of the cabin, and loaded it before me and the crew, and swore that he would…
Equiano recounts coal-pit near-death in Wales, then sails as steward to New York in spring 1784 and back to London in January 1785, later returning on voyages to Philadelphia in 1785 and experiencing a ship collision.
one poor man, who was not far from me: upon this I got out as fast as I could, thinking the surface of the earth the safest part of it. In the spring 1784 I thought of visiting old ocean again. In consequence of this I embarked as steward on board a fine new ship called the London, commanded by Martin Hopkin, and sailed for New-York. I admired this city very much; it is large and well-built, and abounds with provisi…
Washington recounts his anxiety about speaking at the Exposition because he had been enslaved and might be judged by former owners, describes preparations with Tuskegee teachers, his journey to Atlanta on September 17, and the crowded, hot reception.
would be composed of Southern people, yet there would be present a large number of Northern whites, as well as a great many men and women of my own race. I was determined to say nothing that I did not feel from the bottom of my heart to be true and right. When the invitation came to me, there was not one word of intimation as to what I should say or as to what I should omit. In this I felt that the Board of Director…
Quintus Curius, expelled from the senate, leaks conspiracy details via Fulvia, helping push the consulship to Cicero; Catiline then continues arming, recruits debt-ridden women like Sempronia, and prepares for fire and slave revolt.
she could compose verses, jest, and join in conversation either modest, tender, or licentious. In a word, she was distinguished[141] by much refinement of wit, and much grace of expression. XXVI. Catiline, having made these arrangements, still canvassed for the consulship for the following year; hoping that, if he should be elected, he would easily manage Antonius according to his pleasure. Nor did he, in the mean t…
The narrator agrees to ride with the waterman to Greenwich, observes hundreds of ships in rows sheltering families, then returns, describing how infected people sometimes were thrown overboard.
doors, and that I had ventured out so far for the refreshment of a little air, but that none in my house had so much as been touched with it. ‘Well, sir,’ says he, ‘as your charity has been moved to pity me and my poor family, sure you cannot have so little pity left as to put yourself into my boat if you were not sound in health which would be nothing less than killing me and ruining my whole …
From the Chesapeake Bay, Douglass watches ships leaving and prays for deliverance, imagines freedom and flight, and then attempts escape by swimming to freedom through Delaware into Pennsylvania.
compel utterance; and there, with no audience but the Almighty, I would pour out my soul’s complaint in my rude way, with an apostrophe to the moving multitude of ships: “You are loosed from your moorings, and free; I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before the bloody whip! You are freedom’s swift-winged angels, that fly around the world; I am confined in ban…
Douglass decides to seek Capt. Thomas Auld at St. Michael’s, walks about seven miles while bleeding and exhausted, escapes Covey’s threats, hides in the woods, and fears he may die.
Auld acquainted with the atrocious cruelty of his brother Covey, and beseech him to get me another master? Remembering the object he had in view, in placing me under the management of Covey, and further, his cruel treatment of my poor crippled cousin, Henny, and his meanness in the matter of feeding and clothing his slaves, there was little ground to hope for a favorable reception at the hands of Capt. Thomas Auld. N…
After a sleepless night at St. Michael’s, Douglass returns to Covey’s on Saturday, but Covey attempts to capture him with a cowskin and rope; Douglass flees into the woods.
A SLEEPLESS NIGHT—RETURN TO COVEY’S—PURSUED BY COVEY—THE CHASE DEFEATED—VENGEANCE POSTPONED—MUSINGS IN THE WOODS—THE ALTERNATIVE—DEPLORABLE SPECTACLE—NIGHT IN THE WOODS—EXPECTED ATTACK—ACCOSTED BY SANDY, A FRIEND, NOT A HUNTER—SANDY’S HOSPITALITY—THE “ASH CAKE” SUPPER—THE INTERVIEW WITH SANDY—HIS ADVICE—SANDY A CONJURER AS WELL AS A CHRISTIAN—THE MAGIC ROOT—STRANGE MEETING WITH COVEY—HIS MANNER—COVEY’S SUNDAY FACE—MY…
Douglass depicts the terror-fueled visions of death during escape, then contrasts “Give me liberty or give me death” with enslaved men’s “doubtful” freedom, recounting Sandy’s Friday-night dream of Douglass being attacked by birds.
survey the untrodden road, and conjecture the many possible difficulties, we were appalled, and at times, as I have said, were upon the point of giving over the struggle altogether. The reader can have little idea of the phantoms of trouble which flit, in such circumstances, before the uneducated mind of the slave. Upon either side, we saw grim death assuming a variety of horrid shapes. Now, it was starvation, causi…
The escape plan is set: use a large canoe owned by Mr. Hamilton, launch into Chesapeake Bay before Easter holidays, paddle about seventy miles, then drift toward the north star, with detailed objections and forged-use passes for Baltimore.
I saw this as plainly as I now see you; and furder, honey, watch de Friday night dream; dare is sumpon in it, shose you born; dare is, indeed, honey.” I confess I did not like this dream; but I threw off concern about it, by attributing it to the general excitement and perturbation consequent upon our contemplated plan of escape. I could not, however, shake off its effect at once. I felt that it boded me no good. Sa…