There was once a slave ... : $b The heroic story of Frederick DouglassDu Bois, Shirley Graham
History
There was once a slave ... : $b The heroic story of Frederick Douglass
Du Bois, Shirley Graham
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895
“His name?” asked the chairman.
“He is known as Frederick.”
So Frederick was admitted to membership. At his first meeting he sat
silent, listening. He felt very humble when these men and women rose to
their feet and read or spoke. His head whirled. It seemed that he could
not bear any more when a young woman, whom he had noticed sitting very
quietly in a corner, rose. She held a paper in her hand, and when she
spoke her voice was low and musical. At first he heard only that music.
He shook himself and tried to attend to what she was saying.
“This third edition of the _Appeal_ has been wholly reset and contains
many corrections and important additions. David Walker is dead, but
let us remember that his words are addressed to us, to every one of
us. Remember the preamble to his four articles, his own words ‘To the
Colored Citizens of the World, but in particular, and very expressly,
to those of the United States of America.’ The hour is too late for
you to hear the entire text of his final message. But in this time of
great stress and discouragement I should like to call your attention to
this one paragraph.”
And then, standing close to the smoking oil lamp, she read from the
paper in her hand:
“For although the destruction of the oppressors God may not effect by
the oppressed, yet the Lord our God will bring other destruction upon
them, for not infrequently will He cause them to rise up one against
the other, to be split, divided, and to oppress each other. And
sometimes to open hostilities with sword in hand.”
She sat down then amid complete and thoughtful silence. The meeting
broke up. They dispersed quickly, not loitering on the street, not
walking together. But first Frederick buttonholed his friend from Fells
Point.
“What’s her name?” he whispered. His friend knew whom he meant.
“Anna Murray.”
The bonds of slavery bit deeper than before. The calm, sweet face of
Anna Murray shimmered in his dreams. He had to be free!
He was living and working among free men, in all respects equal to them
in performance. Why then should he be a slave? He was earning a dollar
and a half a day. He contracted for it, worked for it, collected it.
It was paid to him. Turning this money over to Mr. Auld each Saturday
became increasingly painful. He could see no reason why, at the end of
each week, he should pour the rewards of his toil into the purse of a
master.
It is quite possible that Mr. Auld sensed some of this rebellion,
though not its intensity. Each time he carefully counted the money and
each time he looked searchingly at the young man and asked, “Is that
all?”
It would not do to let the boy consider himself too profitable. On the
other hand, when the sum was extra large he usually gave him back a
sixpence or shilling along with a kindly pat.
This dole did not have the intended effect. The slave took it as an
admission of his right to the whole sum. In giving him a few cents the
master was easing his conscience.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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