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MY BONDAGE
and
MY FREEDOM
_By_
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
_By a principle essential to Christianity, a PERSON is eternally
differenced from a THING; so that the idea of a HUMAN BEING,
necessarily excludes the idea of PROPERTY IN THAT BEING_.
COLERIDGE

Entered according to Act of Congress in 1855 by Frederick
Douglass in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the
Northern District of New York

TO
HONORABLE GERRIT SMITH,
AS A SLIGHT TOKEN OF
ESTEEM FOR HIS CHARACTER,
ADMIRATION FOR HIS GENIUS AND BENEVOLENCE,
AFFECTION FOR HIS PERSON, AND
GRATITUDE FOR HIS FRIENDSHIP,
AND AS
A Small but most Sincere Acknowledgement of
HIS PRE-EMINENT SERVICES IN BEHALF OF THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES
OF AN
AFFLICTED, DESPISED AND DEEPLY OUTRAGED PEOPLE,
BY RANKING SLAVERY WITH PIRACY AND MURDER,
AND BY
DENYING IT EITHER A LEGAL OR CONSTITUTIONAL EXISTENCE,
This Volume is Respectfully Dedicated,
BY HIS FAITHFUL AND FIRMLY ATTACHED FRIEND,
FREDERICK DOUGLAS.
ROCHESTER, N.Y.

    CONTENTS

    EDITORS PREFACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
    INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

LIFE AS A SLAVE?

    I--CHILDHOOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
    II--REMOVED FROM MY FIRST HOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
    III--PARENTAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
    IV--A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE SLAVE PLANTATION . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
    V--GRADUAL INITIATION INTO THE MYSTERIES OF SLAVERY. . . . . . . . . 61
    VI--TREATMENT OF SLAVES ON LLOYDS PLANTATION . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
    VII--LIFE IN THE GREAT HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
    VIII--A CHAPTER OF HORRORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
    IX--PERSONAL TREATMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
    X--LIFE IN BALTIMORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
    XI--"A CHANGE CAME O'ER THE SPIRIT OF MY DREAM". . . . . . . . . . .118
    XII--RELIGIOUS NATURE AWAKENED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
    XIII--THE VICISSITUDES OF SLAVE LIFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
    XIV--EXPERIENCE IN ST. MICHAEL'S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
    XV--COVEY, THE NEGRO BREAKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
    XVI--ANOTHER PRESSURE OF THE TYRANTS VICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . .172

 CONTENTS

    XVII--THE LAST FLOCCING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180
    XVIII--NEW RELATIONS AND DUTIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194
    XIX--THE RUN-AWAY PLOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209
    XX--APPRENTICESHIP LIFE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235
    XXI--MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248

LIFE AS A FREEMAN
    XXII--LIBERTY ATTAINED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261
    XXIII--INTRODUCED TO THE ABOLITIONISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278
    XXIV--TWENTY-ONE MONTHS IN GREAT BRITAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284
    XXV--VARIOUS INCIDENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304

APPENDIX
    RECEPTION SPEECH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .318
    LETTER TO HIS OLD MASTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330
    THE NATURE OF SLAVERY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .337
    INHUMANITY OF SLAVERY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .343
    WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349
    THE INTERNAL SLAVE TRADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354
    THE SLAVERY PARTY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .358
    THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .363

MY BONDAGE
_and_
MY FREEDOM

EDITOR'S PREFACE

If the volume now presented to the public were a mere work of
ART, the history of its misfortune might be written in two very