http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mfd&fileName=19/19013/19013page.db&recNum=0&itemLink=/ammem/doughtml/dougFolder4.html&linkText=7

The article appears to be an editorial newspaper clipping from the “Buffalo Express” on February 23^rd, 1895. The article is titled “Douglass And His Race.”

This article was published three days after Fredrick Douglass’s death. The meaning of “His Race” clearly represents all the black people that Fredrick Douglass represented though his strong abolitionist writing, speaking and action during his later life.  We learn that Douglass had “thought of spending his remaining days in England, [where he had previously lived for 2 years] because everywhere in the United States he was constantly reminded of the prejudices against his race.”

We can see from this article that even though the Civil War was won by the North and blacks were technically “free,” Douglass still saw prejudice everywhere to the point of wanting to escape it. It seems uncharacteristic of such a strongly driven proactive thinker and initiator to want to escape from the very center of his life focus. Yet, oh the other hand, we can see that Douglass has given exorbitant amounts of himself fighting slavery and as the clipping explains a great deal of prejudice still existed even in the north.

The article does shed light on slight movement throughout the country towards giving blacks “political rights.” Perhaps Douglass death provoked the country into thinking what the state of black’s “social standing” was.

From this article, we might ask how Douglass handled hope v.s. pain regarding the situation of blacks in his day? Also, while we hear a lot a bout changes in the south, how did changes in the north come about?

Speech of Fredrick Douglass to American Anti-Slavery Society

The artifact from Fredrick Douglass’s life that I reviewed is an excerpt from one of his speeches that he made to the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1848.  It is worth noting that this speech was made just three years after Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass was published.

There are a few things that I found interesting in this excerpt.  First, I was interested by the word choice of Douglass when he gives his first reason for the abolition of slavery.  He says, “A MAN IS A MAN; that every man belongs to himself, and to no one else.”  Frankly, this phrase reminds me of something that Ayn Rand would say (a century later), but I am not sure if Douglass would ever agree with the objectivist philosophy.  Another interesting thing is the part of the speech when Douglass refers to a demonstration in Washington D.C. where “77 men, women and children conceived the idea that they were men, not three-fifths men.”  Here, Douglass was probably referring to the Three-Fifths compromise, which concerns the allocation of federal tax revenue to slave states.

The questions that this artifact yields concern Douglass’s thoughts on Ayn Rand and the Three-Fifths compromise.  Obviously, Douglass’s time was before that of Rand and objectivism, but it would be interesting to know his thoughts on the philosophy.  Would he consider himself an objectivist?  I am also curious about what Douglass meant by implying the Three-Fifths compromise, if he was.  Did people back then use the Three-Fifths compromise to justify slavery?  If so, how much of the constitution actually supported slavery?

The North Star was an anti-slavery newspaper published by Frederick Douglass.  The article The North Star seems to be the very first of many articles within Douglass’ newspaper.  This first article explains why Douglass chose to name his newspaper The North Star, and uses poetic comparisons, between struggles of the actual northern star with natural phenomenons to the struggles of the anti-slavery movement towards freedom, in order to fully demonstrate the power behind the name, The North Star.  Douglass compares the movement’s struggles to tempests, earth-quakes, and storm bolts, and also compares the movement’s resolve to the power of the northern star.  Douglass also uses a very unique way of stating his ideas and goals saying, “We shall cherish the one [faith], indulge the other [hope], and endeavor to gain the last [freedom] for our slavery-smitten countrymen.”

I am amazed at the eloquence as well as the elegance of Frederick Douglass’ writing skills.  Even though he learned how to read and write late in his life, and learned it by himself at that, his writings have a way of painting a picture that captivates the reader and appeals to their emotions.  Through reading his book, and this article, I see that Douglass likes to incorporate aspects of nature into his writings to describe things likes faith, hope, and freedom on a much deeper level, both emotionally and mentally.

In this particular article, Frederick Douglass mentions the morning star and the evening star as other suggested names for his newspaper, and says he was requested to not use the name the north star.  This brings to question who suggested the others names, and who requested him to not use the name the north star.  In the final paragraph, Douglass refers to his newspaper as a “humble sheet”, what does this mean?

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mfd&fileName=47/47002/47002page.db&recNum=0&itemLink=/ammem/doughtml/dougFolder8.html&linkText=7

This poem, a quatrain to be specific, speaks of the injustice of the time, presumably slavery. It speaks of a better time, when injustice (slavery?) on earth shall be no more. Idealistic: possibly; historically relevant: definitely. It is unclear whether Douglass wrote this poem himself or whether some other anonymous poet crafted these lines. This poem seems to speak of the problems that Douglass may have been experiencing, as he longed for a time “When earth’s injustice to her son’s shall end.”

The fact that Douglass even owns the poem tells us that he valued an intellectual life (further shown in the book we read over the summer) and the benefit one receives in reading. Poetry, obviously, was therefore one piece of writing in particular that Douglass valued and respected.

The fact that the document contains no information other then the poem itself brings forth many unanswered questions. Who, if not Douglass, is the author? Why did they write it? When did they write it? Could a slave, or even former slave, possibly have written it? Did an abolitionist or sympathetic humanitarian write this? How did Douglass get a copy of it? Why is the handwriting so cool? All of these questions are avenues for further research into the origin and purpose of this document.

Ben Renne

I examined a letter of Douglass’s which he had printed in a newspaper (the North Star), titled “To My Old Master”. The letter was written to Douglass’s former master,  Thomas Auld.

The letter was written September 3rd, 1848, ten years after Douglass escaped to freedom. It is twelve pages long. The first page and a half is Douglass’s explanation of why he wrote and published the letter in such a public manner; he indirectly accuses Mr. Auld of committing theft and murder by holding slaves. Several pages are then devoted to Douglass informing his former master about his life since his escape from slavery, and he ends with an appeal for Mr. Auld to send his old grandmother north, and let him know how his sisters are doing.

One interesting thing about this letter is that, while Douglass is frankly insulting, he apparently does expect Mr. Auld to comply with his demands. he calls Mr. Auld a thief and a murderer, refers to his “wickedness and cruelty”, and calls his actions “an outrage upon the soul”. Despite this, he still appears to expect Mr. Auld to send him news of his family, for no other reason than that Douglass asked him.

Was this attitude common at the time? Was there a general expectation that one would accommodate someone who insulted you in this way? Perhaps Douglass was actually trying to make it easier for Mr. Auld to accede to his demands; Auld would certainly look the bigger man if he agreed.

Poem part 1

Poem part 2

Poem part 3

The item of Fredrick Douglass’ that I reviewed was a poem called “An Eastern Voile”. This poem was written by Rose Terry Cooke and was kept by Fredrick’s mother.  The poem’s date of publish cannot be verified these days as it does not appear in here collections. The author is from Connecticut, which brings about the question as to how it got all the way to Maryland. The poem is a message that even after death, Fredrick’s mother will be “high in the heaven above” watching over him and wait for him there. The purpose of the poem was to comfort Fredrick and his siblings after their mother died. It was found by him in his mother’s chest after her death. The artifact shows that his mother knew how to read and write because she was able to make a copy of this poem, but raises the question where did she get the copy of the poem as literature was not readily available for slaves. Another question it raises is that if she knew how to read and write, then why had Fredrick not been taught at a younger age or if he even knew his mother could read and write? It also raises the question, why didn’t Fredrick mention this in his narrative? If he was allowed his mother’s belongings which contained important things to him, then why did he mention nothing of this poem or any other contents? Another question brought up, is that if Fredrick hadn’t been taught how to read, how was this ever suppose to bring him or his siblings comfort? This artifact revealed a personal part of Fredrick’s life and revealed so many new doors, leading to new facts about his life, to be opened

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mfd&fileName=44/44007/44007page.db&recNum=0&itemLink=/ammem/doughtml/dougFolder6.html&linkText=7

The Promissory Note that I reviewed was issued September 1st, 1868 in Washington D.C. It is a promise note from Charles R. Douglass to pay back Frederick Douglass the amount of $300.  This would have  been an extremely large amount of money which indicates that the person who was borrowing the money was someone Frederick Douglass trusted immensely.  He granted a period of two years for the borrower to repay him.  He was both confident in, and sympathetic to Charles R. Douglass.  The questions that this artifact provokes are: who was Charles R. Douglass in relation to Frederick, and for what is this money being used?  These questions could be broader to include: what major events were happening in D.C. at the time?  Charles R. Douglass was the youngest son of Frederick Douglass.  Despite not being able to find an exact explanation as to what the money was for, I found that Charles was enlisted in the army until around that time.  There are three stamps at the top of the note.  Questions this may incite would be about where it was stamped and why.  It could be an official bank that issued the note, leaving the stamps for proof of legitimacy.  This illustrates the graciousness of Douglass for lending money for various causes, especially during the time after the Civil War, where many people looked to him for guidance and support.

Studies for the Piano

Frederick Douglass kept a book of piano compositions by Albert Loeschhorn, throughout which he made basic notes, reminding himself to “watch [his] notes”, and so on. The book was a compilation of easy compositions, meant to be used by a beginner piano player.

I believe that the most prominent information that can be derived from the book is the date in which it was published, 1895, which also happened to be the year Frederick Douglass died. This reinforces the idea that Frederick Douglass was a man that continually strove to better himself, both intellectually and culturally, very late into his life. Though this book was published post America’s period of slavery, it was still a time in which African Americans were imposed upon with immense disadvantages and prejudice. Frederick Douglass fought against that grain, proving again and again that African Americans were capable of the same thoughts and talents that Caucasians possessed.

One question that might arise from this artifact is whether or not Frederick Douglass’s talents actually did extend to music. Despite my extensive Google researching, I have found nothing indicating that it did. Perhaps this could be attributed to the fact that Frederick Douglass had discovered his desire to play the piano rather late in his life. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to discover whether or not Frederick Douglass was simply an exceptional writer/orator, or if he was a budding musical virtuoso as well.

     Men of Color, To Arms!

     Fredrick Douglass wrote “Men of Color, To Arms!” in 1863 while in New York. He wrote this short article to arouse his fellow slaves to fight for their freedom, and more importantly for their country. The Civil War was fought over slaves, yet the slaves could be the cure for ending the war, according to Douglass. He told his brothers and sisters not to question, but to respond to the call and fight. “Action! Action! and not criticism, is the plain duty of this hour” (Douglass 1). Douglass’s words “Better to die free than live slaves” foreshadowed what Patrick Henry would say roughly 100 years later in his work “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” Douglass went on to encourage his fellow slaves to ignore the white men, who said that this was their war. He invoked them to run to Massachusetts, where they would be welcomed into the army. He assured them that they would be treated just as the white soldiers were treated. They would be given the same wages, food, and equipment. He implored his brothers and sisters to pounce on the opportunity to win back their freedom.

Our goal with this research exercise is to begin thinking about the kind of researchable questions we can ask of the world, using Frederick Douglass as our test case. Begin by exploring the Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress’s American Memory digital archive. If you don’t know where to begin with the archive, look at the list of the various sections and simply select one that sounds intriguing. Eventually, settle upon one artifact and examine it as closely as you can. (You can often click on the “higher quality image” link to view the images full-size.)

When you’re ready, log into our blog and select the New Post button. The first thing you should do in your post for the HNRS 110 Research Journal is name the item you examined. Use this chain icon:

in the toolbar to link the item’s name to its page at the Library of Congress. Then consider the following questions:

1. What can you learn about the artifact itself by looking at it? What can you learn about its date, its age, its purpose, and so on.
2. What kind of things could this artifact tell us about Frederick Douglass or the world he lived in?
3. What kind of new questions does examining this artifact yield?

You only have 200-300 words, so be concise and precise. There’s no need to provide a lofty introduction or to write up a thesis statement followed by supporting evidence. Just dive right into your analysis of this object and the kind of questions it both answers and provokes. Be sure to have this exercise completed and posted by the time class starts on Tuesday, September 7.