Frederick Douglass (1971)

[Music] in 1847 this man Frederick Douglas was sold for the price of $700 his value in the slave market yet by that time he was a famous author and orator bravely speaking out and writing against the horrors of slavery and for the rights of the black man from childhood he had rebelled against slavery no one could persuade him it was the white man's right to buy and sell black people on a Maryland Plantation Fredrick had watched in helpless Terror at the merciless attacks upon slaves he had seen and suffered the cruelties of slavery often he had seen the grief of women when they were separated from husbands and children forever when Frederick was 8 years old he was sent to work for a family in [Music] Baltimore his mistress Mrs Al taught him to read and was so pleased with his progress that she asked him to read for her husband to her surprise Mr ald was Furious learning will spoil the best [ __ ] in the world he said if he learns to read the Bible it will forever unfit him to be a slave this was a lesson Frederick would not forget if learning would make him unfit to be a slave then learning was what he intended to have at 16 Frederick was sent back to the plantation and its backbreaking toil spoiled for slavery by a little kindness and a little learning his rebellious attitude was soon noticed by his master and he was turned over to a specialist for obedience training now the dawn to dark labor was accompanied by floggings one day he refused to take a beating and turned into a furious fighting [Music] rebel I was a changed being after that fight Douglas said later when a slave cannot be flogged he is more than half free in 1838 disguised as a sailor Douglas became a runaway he took a train to New York City there he was befriended by the vigilance committee a group that assisted fugitive slaves before long he was settled in New Bedford Massachusetts working for low pay on the ships but reving in his his new found freedom and happy in his new marriage and home life Douglas now began to take part in the activities of the local anti-slavery society when he met William Lloyd Garrison the famous editor and crusader for Freedom his future was settled it was at Garrison's suggestion that Douglas went on a speaking tour he held audiences Spellbound with the story of his life acting out the role in the Savage drama of slavery the brutal white Master the weary sad-faced slave dreaming of a far-off Promised Land The Vicious whip cracking overseer he could make an audience see and feel the plight of the slave but he was not content to be a platform performer it did not entirely satisfy me to narrate wrongs he said I felt like denouncing them a rumor was spreading that Douglas was a fraud that he was a free educated black who had never been south of the Mason Dixon line to stop the rumor and to add Force to his Crusade Douglas wrote the story of his life giving names and dates and legal proof that he was a fugitive slave on the advice of friends he went to England and remained there for nearly 2 years while he spoke for the Abolitionist cause English friends raised money to buy his freedom in England he was treated with a warmth and respect which he could not hope to find upon his return to America now that he was legally free there was much to be done to awaken people to the Injustice and dangers of slavery back in America in the 1850s Douglas became a leader of great influence combining the power of the printed word with the force of direct action as an agent of the Underground Railroad in Rochester New York he gave shelter and Aid to hundreds of runaway slaves Douglas became a valuable friend and adviser to the abolitionist John Brown he was consulted about various plans for arming and liberating slaves in the South while he greatly respected Brown and hated Injustice Douglas felt he could not support the planned attack on the Arsenal at Harper's Ferry Virginia he warned Brown that his plan would not free a single slave and that he was going into a trap in which he would die the attack failed and John Brown died on the Gallow December 2nd [Music] 1859 with the outbreak of the Civil War Douglas urged President Lincoln to emancipate an arm the slaves to make it a war to end slavery but it was not until the summer of 1862 that Lincoln decided that slavery must be abolished on the day that the Emancipation Proclamation was signed Douglas led a crowd of 3,000 in a jubilant celebration in Boston fully dedicated to the war of Liberation he became an elequent recruiter for the Union Army in the midst of his campaign for Army enlistments Douglas heard reports of ill treatment of black soldiers that they were receiving half pay and were not allowed to wear official uniforms and that they were denied promotion feeling that his trust had been betrayed Douglas went to the White House to talk to President Lincoln a warm friendship followed and in time Lincoln saw that conditions were improved during the post-war reconstruction period Douglas was nationally recognized as the top spokesman for his people champion of the poor and homeless freed men in the South father of the black protest movement advisor to presidents at times he held important office in Washington and was once United States minister to Haiti the black man's struggle for equality was Douglas's great passion and it was also part of a larger dream a vision of peace of worldwide Brotherhood and equality for all to the white people I say measure not the black man by The Heights you have attained but rather The Depths from which he Has Come Those depths into which you plunged and held him for two centuries [Music]