Source: American Experience: "The Abolitionists"
In this video segment adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: “The Abolitionists,” featuring historical reenactments, learn about the contributions of Frederick Douglass to the abolitionist movement. A former slave who escaped to freedom in 1838, Douglass’s eloquence made him one of the most prominent spokespersons for the movement to end slavery. His efforts to free George Latimer, an escaped slave who had been imprisoned in Massachusetts, led to the first of several personal liberty laws passed by legislatures in northern states.
Download and ShareFrederick Douglass, born in 1818, had firsthand experience with the South’s so-called “peculiar institution”—slavery. He was separated from his mother at infancy and raised by his grandparents until the age of six. For several years, he served as a houseboy in Maryland, where, in defiance of state law, his master’s wife gave him lessons in reading and writing. These skills allowed Douglass to study public speaking from a popular textbook. As a teenager, Douglass was sent to a plantation, where he became subjected to the cruelties of labor as a field hand.
After one failed attempt to flee Maryland in 1835, Douglass successfully escaped from slavery two years later by impersonating a sailor. Anna Murray, a free black woman who aided in his escape, later became his wife. After settling in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1838, Douglass became a leading figure among black abolitionists, following in the footsteps of such predecessors as David Walker, who published An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World in 1829, and Maria Stewart, who in 1831 became the first American woman of any race to speak on a political subject to an audience of both men and women.
Douglass’s speeches began to attract attention at a time when the abolitionist movement was in crisis. In 1836, the United States Congress had passed the gag rule, which prohibited the presentation of any petitions calling for the end of slavery. Four years later, supporters of abolition were divided by what was referred to as the Great Schism. It pitted those who favored a broader campaign that also addressed women’s rights and challenged political and religious corruption against those who favored focusing only on the issue of slavery. When William Lloyd Garrison, a leading white abolitionist, first heard Douglass speak at an antislavery convention on Nantucket Island in 1841, he was overwhelmed by Douglass’s eloquence and referred to the speech as more powerful than Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me liberty or give me death” oration during the American Revolution.
Garrison was quick to recruit Douglass as a speaker for the abolitionist cause, while Douglass in turn sought Garrison’s support in efforts to free George Latimer, an escaped slave imprisoned in Massachusetts. Their work was bolstered by the 1842 U.S. Supreme Court decision Prigg v. Pennsylvania, which suggested that states could legislate against aiding in the return of runaway slaves. As a result, Massachusetts and other northern states passed personal liberty laws that impeded the pursuit of fugitive slaves.
Douglass would continue his efforts on behalf of freedom. His attempt to ride in a “white” railroad car with a fellow abolitionist inspired a campaign for the integration of public transportation. He published his own newspaper as well as the 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which became highly influential. Douglass participated in the first women’s rights convention in 1848 and, as an advisor to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, urged the president to allow freed blacks to serve in the Union Army. After the Civil War, Douglass served as recorder of deeds in Washington, D.C., and minister to Haiti before his death in 1895.
Here are suggested ways to engage students with this video and with activities related to this topic.
Viewing the video: Use the following suggestions to guide students’ viewing of the video.
Research project—individual: Ask students to read portions of a speech that Douglass delivered on July 4, 1852, and discuss the points he made and the way in which he engaged his audience. Students can also read excerpts from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Ask students to research Douglass’s two later biographies and discuss how they differ in emphasis. The relationship between Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, and Douglass’s career after the Civil War, are also topics for additional research. Students can also investigate the role of other freed slaves and prominent black abolitionists, including Lewis Hayden, Harriet Jacobs, John Parker, Maria Stewart, and William Still.
Class activity—group or individual: Have students explore The Abolitionist Map of America, an interactive map that features archival images, documents, and videos. You may want to have students explore the map with a particular focus, such as by years or regions. Each student or group of students can have a different focus and then share their findings with the class. As a further research project, students might investigate abolitionist history in your region; as a class, you could contribute your findings to the map project.
Research project—group or individual: Many of the men and women who participated in the abolitionist movement are not well known today. Have students research one of the abolitionists on the African American Abolitionists Research List (PDF) to find out who this person was, why this person felt the way he or she did, and how this person acted as a result. You can let students select the person who interests them the most or assign names for individual students or groups to research. To direct their research, you can provide students with a particular focus or a list of questions to answer. Here are some examples:
Before students start their research, stipulate the types of sources that they need to use. For example, you can instruct them to have an online biographical source as well as a primary source connected to the person. Or suggest that they use websites related to historical or academic organizations so that they are not relying on Wikipedia. The African American Abolitionists Research List (PDF) includes website links to get them started.
After researching a particular abolitionist, students need to share what they have discovered. Keep in mind that the amount of material available for particular abolitionists varies, so this will impact what students will be able to prepare for their assignments.
An example of a challenging writing assignment might be a speech of two to three minutes, since meetings and public speaking were the medium through which much of the abolitionist message was spread. You could have students write short speeches from the point of view of their chosen abolitionist. The speech could also focus on one of the following ideas:
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