1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. We are 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: just back from Seneca Falls. Yeah, they were so kind 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: to invite us to Convention Days. Yes, at the Women's 6 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: Rights National Historical Park. We had a live show there 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: on Sunday this past Sunday it is now Tuesday. We 8 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: did Unfortunately, though we had a little bit of an 9 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,599 Speaker 1: issue with the recording. Yeah, well, it's like there's a 10 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: combination of factors. We had the just immense honor of 11 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: doing our live show in Wesleyan Chapel, which is where 12 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: the Seneca Falls convention was held. As you might imagine 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: from a chapel dating back to that area, it is 14 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: essentially a big empty space. It's a big box adjacent 15 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: to the road. Um. So, like for a number of reasons, 16 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: it just we were not able to get clear audio 17 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: of the live show that we did that day. So 18 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,839 Speaker 1: we are still going to talk about Frederick Douglas. Yeah, 19 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: we'll just do, yes, a studio version of that show. 20 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: We do. Definitely they'll want to thank the folks of 21 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: the National Park service um and Ashley Nottingham, who was 22 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: a person who did all of the arranging or a 23 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: lot of the arranging with us specifically for this, like, 24 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: thank everyone for having us out because we had a 25 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: wonderful time. Yeah, we had. I was so delighted by 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: just how fun and kind and welcoming and warm everyone was. 27 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: It was really lovely. Yes. Uh. And it is also 28 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: a better service to Frederick Douglas to to have a nice, 29 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: clean recording of him rather than uh, the somewhat noisier 30 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: one from on the day. So today, as we just said, 31 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: we are going to talk about the life and work 32 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: of orator, writer, states of an and social reformer Frederick Douglas. 33 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: Frederick Douglas's work was just tireless and prolific, and we 34 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: could literally fill a whole episode of our show just 35 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: listing off the titles of all his writings and all 36 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: the positions that he held, and all the laws that 37 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: he influenced, and all the speeches that he made, and 38 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: all the people's whose rights he championed during his lifetime. 39 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: He was even nominated for Vice President of the United 40 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: States on the ticket with Victoria Woodhall in eighteen seventy two. 41 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: Just as an example of a thing that happened that 42 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: we're not even going to talk about in detail today. 43 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: So our focus is really going to be on how 44 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: his early life shaped the truly remarkable advocate that he became, 45 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: and that his work with the two primary causes that 46 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: he campaigned the most for. He campaigned for a lot 47 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: of stuff that would all fall under the umbrella of 48 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: like humanitarianism and human rights in some way, but the 49 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: two biggest parts where the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage. 50 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: Frederick Douglas was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey around February 51 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: of eighteen eighteen in a region of Maryland's eastern shore 52 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: known as Tuckahoe. He was enslaved from birth, and his 53 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: exact birth date and place of birth are not known. 54 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: His father was white, and although there was speculation that 55 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,239 Speaker 1: he may have been the owner or overseer of Douglas's mother, Harriet, 56 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: his identity remains unknown as well. Douglas was separated from 57 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,359 Speaker 1: his mother while still a baby and sent to live 58 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: with her parents, Betsy and Isaac Bailey. Betsy was enslaved 59 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: and Isaac was free, and Betsy was known for her 60 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: skills as a nurse and her knack for making and 61 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: using fishing nets, along with being particularly good at growing 62 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: sweet potatoes. People from all around would come to Frederick 63 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: Douglas's grandmother to be like, can you help me out 64 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: with my sweet potatoes because you are the best at 65 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: growing them. That's a good life skill to have, ma'am. 66 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: But Betsy's primary duty was actually caring for children, in 67 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: particular her five daughter's children. Enslaved women were typically sent 68 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: right back to work as soon as possible after giving birth, 69 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: and they were not allowed to raise their own children, 70 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: so Frederick had very little memory of his mother until 71 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: the age of about seven. Those years with his grandmother 72 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: were an odd mix of relative freedom and a growing 73 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: comprehension that he was not free. The children had few 74 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: physical comforts they just they didn't have really playthings or 75 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: much to eat, but they also had few worries or constraints. 76 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: In My Bondage and My Freedom, which was one of 77 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: Douglas's autobiographies, he described the early years of a young 78 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 1: enslaved boy as quote in a word, he is, for 79 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,040 Speaker 1: the most part of his first eight years of life, 80 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: a spirited, joyous, uproarious, and happy boy upon whom troubles 81 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: fall only like water on a duck's back. But as 82 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: he got older, Douglas gradually came to perceive that the 83 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: cabin that they were living in was not his grandmother's 84 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: It and his grandmother, all of the other children, and 85 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: he himself were in fact the property of someone they 86 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: knew as old Master, and that was Captain Aaron Anthony, 87 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,720 Speaker 1: and Douglas faced a dawning understanding that he would at 88 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 1: some point be forced to leave his grandmother to begin 89 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: a life of enslaved labor. That happened when Douglas was 90 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 1: seven or eight, and he was sent to the plantation 91 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: of Colonel Edward Lloyd, who had previously been governor of 92 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,119 Speaker 1: Maryland and a United States Senator. And they're a woman 93 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: known as Aunt Katie was the one responsible for the children, 94 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: including some of her own, so she was sort of 95 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,800 Speaker 1: an exception to the typical behavior that women were not 96 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: allowed to raise their own children. Aunt Katie's treatment of 97 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: the children was incredibly cruel, and Douglas often went hungry 98 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: when she would give his share of food to her 99 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: own children instead. And it was on Lloyd's plantation that 100 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,720 Speaker 1: Douglas got to see just a little more of his mother, 101 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: who was a field hand on another plantation. Even then, however, 102 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: he didn't see her very often at all, and she 103 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: died when he was not yet ten years old. After 104 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: her death, Douglas learned that, quite unusually for a field hand, 105 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: she had actually known how to read, and in later years, 106 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 1: when racist commentators suggested that his skill with language probably 107 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: came from his white father, he would insist that the 108 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: credit should instead go to his mother. He still wasn't 109 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: at this point in his life big enough to do 110 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: field work, so while on Lloyd's plantation, Douglas did chores 111 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: and errands, mainly for Lucretia Auld, who was Captain Anthony's 112 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: married daughter. When Douglas was about eight, he was then 113 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,799 Speaker 1: hired out to another one of the Alds, Hugh Auld, 114 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: Lucretia's brother in law, who worked as a ship carpenter 115 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: in Baltimore. Douglas would later describe this as quote one 116 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: of the most interesting and fortunate events of my life. 117 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: Not only was he removed from the cruelty and brutality 118 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: of the plantation, but he was also introduced to Hugh's wife, Sophia. 119 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: Apparently unaware that it was illegal, or that it's illegality 120 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: was a techno for controlling enslaved people. Sophia taught Frederick 121 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: to read. Hugh All put a stop to these reading 122 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: lessons as soon as he found out about them, but 123 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: it was at this point too late to stop Douglas 124 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: from learning how to read. And Frederick Douglas had already 125 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: realized that literacy would be a key to finding his 126 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: way to freedom. So when Sophia's reading lessons stopped, Douglas 127 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 1: started trading his bread to white children that he would 128 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: run into when he was out on the old Errands. 129 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: And he would do this in exchange for their teaching 130 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: him a few words out of a Webster's spelling book. 131 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: He also gradually saved enough money to buy another book, 132 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: The Columbian Orator, and this was a collection of speeches 133 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: and essays and poems that had come into use as 134 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: a school book. It began with general instructions for speaking, 135 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: and it included the work of men like George Washington, 136 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: John Milton, Socrates, and Cistero. And this he read and reread, 137 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: finding a piece called Dialogue between a Master and Slave 138 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: particularly compelling, and in that piece of writing, a master 139 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: chastises his recaptured slave for having run away, and the slave, 140 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: eloquently dissecting the inhumanity and injustice of slavery, convinces the 141 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 1: master to free him. This is to me one of 142 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: the most amazing things about Frederick Douglas. He was not 143 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: just teaching himself to read by practicing. He was teaching 144 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: himself rhetoric and how to make an argument and eloquence 145 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: by studying this work, and the whole time that he 146 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: was living in Baltimore, he continued teaching himself, eventually also 147 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: using old copybooks and school books belonging to the auld 148 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: Son in order to teach himself how to write, and 149 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: as he got older, he started teaching other enslaved children 150 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: he met to read as well. Baltimore was formative in 151 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: other ways to Douglas. First heard the word abolition while 152 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: he was there, and he began to piece together that 153 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: there was an ambolitionist movement working to end slavery. He 154 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: also became religious, worshiping in an African Methodist Episcopal church, 155 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,959 Speaker 1: while simultaneously coming to understand that the scriptures were being 156 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: used to both justify slavery and to convince enslaved people 157 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 1: that they should submit to it. He became increasingly aware 158 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: of the hypocrisy of Christian slave owners who applied Christ's 159 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,199 Speaker 1: teachings only to white men while treating their enslaved workforce 160 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: with severe cruelty. Frederick Douglas remained in Baltimore for about 161 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: seven years. At this point, there was a series of 162 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: deaths within his owner's family, as well as some inner 163 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: family drama, and Thomas all demanded that he be returned 164 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: to the plantation. Douglas only worked directly for Thomas Auld 165 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: for about nine months, though he had become, in the 166 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: eyes of his enslavers, a troublemaker. He tried to start 167 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: a Sabbath school to teach other enslaved people, and he 168 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: started standing up for himself and other people. So from 169 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: Thomas Auld's point of view, Douglas had been ruined. So 170 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: Thomas Ald hired Douglas out to a man named Edward Covey, 171 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: who was a notorious slave breaker. So this is a 172 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 1: man to whom slave owners would hire out their troublesome 173 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 1: enslaved people for free so that he could train them. And, 174 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 1: in Douglas's words quote, Mr. Covey could have under him 175 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: the most fiery bloods of the neighborhood for the simple 176 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: reward of returning them to their owners well broken. For 177 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: the next six months, Covey beat Douglas on a nearly 178 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: daily basis, and he also engaged in a sort of 179 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: psychological warfare which was meant to make him feel as 180 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 1: though he was constantly watched and constantly threatened. In eighteen 181 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: thirty five, after his time with Covey was up, Douglas 182 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:45,439 Speaker 1: was hired out as a field hand to William Freeland, 183 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: who was not nearly as cruel as Thomas Auld or 184 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: Edward Covey had been. Douglas once again tried to start 185 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: a Sabbath school to teach and educate other enslaved people. 186 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 1: On January one, eighteen thirty six, Douglas resolved that he 187 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: would be free by the end of the year, and 188 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,320 Speaker 1: he planned to liberate several of the other men enslaved 189 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: with him as well. He forged passes for the group 190 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: which said they had permission to go to Baltimore, but 191 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:15,319 Speaker 1: unfortunately their plan was discovered and all of the men 192 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 1: were captured and taken to jail. After this escape attempt, 193 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,319 Speaker 1: Thomas all decided it would be best to send Frederick 194 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,200 Speaker 1: Douglas away, especially because of the Sabbath School and the 195 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 1: influence that he was having among the enslaved people in 196 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: the neighborhood. It wasn't just that Thomas Auld was finding 197 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: Douglas's behavior to be unacceptable, it was also that he 198 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: was drawing the ire of other slave owners in the area. 199 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 1: Thomas Auld was afraid that some harm was going to 200 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: come to his property. So Douglas was sent back to Baltimore, 201 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 1: and it was from there that he ultimately would escape. 202 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: And we will get to that after a quick sponsor break. 203 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 1: So back in Baltimore with Hugh and Sophie Auld, Frederick 204 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: Douglas was first hired out to a shipyard, but after 205 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 1: being attacked by a group of white laborers, which is 206 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: something the authorities refused to investigate because no white witness 207 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: would attest to it, he was allowed to seek out 208 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: his own work. He would basically go and solicit work 209 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: in places that he felt more safe working, and then 210 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: he would turn over all of the pay that he 211 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: earned to Hugh Auld at the end of each week. 212 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: And eventually Douglas asked for permission to hire himself out 213 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 1: during his off hours, and this would allow him to 214 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: keep the pay above and beyond what was due back 215 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,479 Speaker 1: to the Alds, and it was viewed as a huge privilege. 216 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:44,840 Speaker 1: He secretly planned to save this pay in order to 217 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: fund his escape, but his permission to hire his time 218 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: was revoked after he attended a camp meeting one Saturday 219 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: night instead of delivering his pay to Hugh Auld on schedule. 220 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: This pushed Douglas's plans to escape into high gear. He 221 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: was basicly afraid that if he made any kind of 222 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:04,680 Speaker 1: wrong move, it was going to become even harder for 223 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: him to escape. They would be keeping an even closer 224 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: eye on him. At this point, he had met and 225 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: fallen in love with a free black woman named Anna Murray. 226 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: She secured a sailor's uniform for him and gave him 227 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: some of her savings to fund the way, and then 228 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 1: he traveled using identification papers that had been borrowed from 229 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: a free black man. He traveled by train and then 230 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: steamboat and left Baltimore and traveled to New York City 231 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: on September three, thirty eight. For a long time, he 232 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: would not tell anyone exactly how he had done this, 233 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: because he was afraid that if he did that escape 234 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: route from Baltimore would get shut down, and once he 235 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: arrived at a safe house belonging to abolitionist David Ruggles, 236 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: he sent for Anna and they were married on September 237 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:57,080 Speaker 1: fift The pair would eventually have five children together, Rosetta, Lewis, Frederick, Charles, 238 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,839 Speaker 1: and Annie. Knowing that Douglas had were calking ships in Baltimore, 239 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:06,000 Speaker 1: Ruggles suggested that he go to New Bedford, Massachusetts, which 240 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: had a large whaling and shipping industry, as well as 241 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: a sizeable free black community. Douglas had traveled under several 242 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: names while making his way to New Bedford, eventually landing 243 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: on Johnson, but once he got there, there were so 244 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: many other Johnson's in New Bedford that he thought it 245 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: would be confusing to have yet another one, so he 246 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: and Anna took the last name of Douglas. At first, 247 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: the Douglas's life in New Bedford was dedicated to just 248 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: trying to make ends meet and to find a home 249 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: in their new community, and Douglas also resumed going to church. 250 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: After encountering segregation and racism at New Bedford's Methodist church, 251 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: he joined the African Methodist Episcopal Zionist Church and Eventually 252 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: he became a lay minister there. A few months after 253 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: settling in New Bedford, Douglas got a copy of William 254 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator. This was his entry 255 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: into the thti slavery movement that he had first heard 256 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: about back in Baltimore. Soon he was attending abolitionist meetings 257 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: in In eighteen forty one, he attended and spoke at 258 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: an anti slavery convention in Nantucket. This is his first 259 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: time really speaking in public, and he didn't think he 260 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: did a particularly great job. But afterward John A. Collins 261 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: of the Massachusetts Anti Slavery Society asked Frederick Douglas to 262 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: come and work for them as a speaker. He began 263 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: to travel around the North and Midwest speaking against slavery. 264 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: And although Douglas had a remarkable ability to draw from 265 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: his own experience to change hearts and minds, his opposition 266 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: to slavery was not about his own enslavement. His focus 267 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: was on humanity as a whole in the inherent brutality 268 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: and destructiveness of the institution of slavery. But by writing 269 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: about his own experience, he was giving potential abolitionists particularly 270 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: in the North, something many had lacked, and that was 271 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: a window into the reality so the institution of slavery. 272 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: This was incredibly important to the success of the movement 273 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: for abolition, especially in the North. Slavery affected people's lives, 274 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: particularly white people's lives, in really dramatic ways that they 275 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: weren't necessarily even consciously aware of. Many wealthy and prominent 276 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: families had earned their fortunes either directly through the slave 277 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: trade or through industries that relied on enslaved labor. So 278 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: even if no one in a community was currently enslaving anyone, 279 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: it was incredibly likely that its wealthiest and most influential 280 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: families were living on inherited wealth that came at least 281 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: in part from slavery. And people were also traveling on 282 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: roads and railroads, and attending schools and working in buildings 283 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: that had been built by enslaved people, including the US 284 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: Capital Building. So people were living in a nation that 285 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: had been built on and financed through slavery, but they 286 00:16:57,080 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: often didn't have a conscious connection to what any of 287 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:04,439 Speaker 1: that actually meant. That changed as Douglas spoke and wrote 288 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: about fighting off dogs for crumbs of food, sleeping on 289 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: bare floors with little protection from the cold, brutal beatings, 290 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: the murder of an enslaved man named Denby at the 291 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:20,359 Speaker 1: hands of an overseer, the wilful destruction and separation of 292 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: enslaved families, and the constant exhausting work that continued well 293 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,640 Speaker 1: after the work day was over, as enslaved people then 294 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: had to care for their own food, care for their quarters, 295 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: mend their clothes, and on and on. But it wasn't 296 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: simply Douglas's documentation of the daily conditions and degradations of 297 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:45,120 Speaker 1: enslavement that influenced the abolition movement. He also wrote extensively 298 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: on how the institution of slavery impacted the enslavers as 299 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,280 Speaker 1: well as the enslaved. By making enslaved people into a 300 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: class that was supposedly less than human, enslavers were also 301 00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 1: corrupting their own humanity. These were all things that Douglas 302 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 1: had experienced and learned and thought about during his years 303 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: of enslavement, and he was particularly adept at putting them 304 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: into words in a way that motivated readers and listeners 305 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,959 Speaker 1: to act. We should make clear he wasn't the only 306 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: previously enslaved person that was writing and speaking about their 307 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:22,240 Speaker 1: own experience, but he did become particularly famous. In eighteen 308 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:26,440 Speaker 1: forty five, he published the first of three autobiographies, Narrative 309 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,680 Speaker 1: of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave, in 310 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: part to debunk critics claims that he was too eloquent 311 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,719 Speaker 1: who have ever really been a slave? And in it 312 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: he detailed the experiences that we talked about in the 313 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: first part of our episode today, including naming who his 314 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: owners had been, and that was a colossal risk under 315 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: fugitive slave laws. He could be captured and returned to Maryland, 316 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: and as his book became a bestseller, he left the country, 317 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: sailing for Liverpool on August sixteenth of eighteen forty five. 318 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: He arrived Fived in Britain, just before the start of 319 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: the Great Famine in Ireland. As a side note, this 320 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: was not the only time that Frederick Douglas would have 321 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: to flee the country. He did again in eighteen fifty 322 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: nine after John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, after investigators 323 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: found a letter that Douglas had written that could have 324 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: led to his being named as a co conspirator. Douglas 325 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 1: at that point didn't return home until eighteen sixty as 326 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: the nation was careening towards Civil war. After learning that 327 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:30,920 Speaker 1: his daughter Annie had died at the age of eleven, 328 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: so jumping back to eighteen forty five. For nearly two years, 329 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: Douglas traveled around the British Isles and spoke against slavery 330 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: and four civil rights, and while he was there, British 331 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: supporters raised the funds to purchase his freedom. Thomas all 332 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:48,679 Speaker 1: First sold him to Hugh Auld for the sum of 333 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: one hundred dollars, and Hugh released him from slavery on 334 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: December five, eighty six. Douglas returned to the United States 335 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: the following year, and he and his family moved to Rochester, 336 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: New York work. Douglas received some criticism for allowing himself 337 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: to be purchased, since to some it legitimized the institution 338 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:10,720 Speaker 1: that he was fighting against. They basically thought he was 339 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: being complicit in the very thing that he was advocating 340 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,439 Speaker 1: to have abolished. But from Douglas's point of view, he 341 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,240 Speaker 1: had a calling and a duty to return to the 342 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: United States and continue to fight slavery, something he would 343 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: best be able to do if he was not simultaneously 344 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: trying to evade capture or captured and returned South. Of course, 345 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: the Civil War started in eighteen sixty one, and by 346 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: that point Frederick Douglas was one of the most famous 347 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: black men in the United States. Although the South was 348 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: fighting the war in large part to protect and expand 349 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,479 Speaker 1: the institution of slavery, at first, the North was fighting 350 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: primarily to preserve the Union. Douglas became an outspoken advocate 351 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: for making the abolition of slavery one of the Union's 352 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 1: goals as well, and he also recruited for the Union Army, 353 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: and two of his sons served in the fifty fourth 354 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. In eighteen sixty three, Douglas met with 355 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln about the treatment of black soldiers fighting for 356 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: the Union and advocated for their receiving equal pay. Of course, 357 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: the abolition of slavery did ultimately get folded into the 358 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: Union schools in the Civil War, and when the war 359 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: was over, slavery was indeed abolished. Douglas then turned his 360 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 1: attention to protecting the lives and civil rights of African Americans, 361 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:32,360 Speaker 1: including campaigning for the right to vote. He also encouraged 362 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:37,119 Speaker 1: abolitionist organizations to turn their attention to Native Americans, whose 363 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: condition he called, quote the saddest chapter in our history. 364 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: Frederick Douglas never like looked at an accomplishment and then said, okay, 365 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:51,360 Speaker 1: we're done now. If the if the thing he had 366 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,479 Speaker 1: been campaigning for, was successful, he would then find the 367 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: next thing. And after the war he also held a 368 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: number of so shill in political positions, including Charge da 369 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: Fair for the Dominican Republic, Minister Resident and Consul General 370 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,680 Speaker 1: to Haiti, and the Recorder of Deeds of the District 371 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,680 Speaker 1: of Columbia. He served as president of the Freedman Savings Bank, 372 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,199 Speaker 1: and he was on the board at Howard University. The 373 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 1: list of accomplishments and appointments that he had goes on 374 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:22,199 Speaker 1: and on and on. It is quite lengthy. Um. And 375 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: even before the Civil War, Frederick Douglas had become a 376 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: supporter of women's rights. And especially because we were originally 377 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:34,159 Speaker 1: giving this episode as a live show at Convention Days 378 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: in celebration of the anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, 379 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: made a lot of sense to spend a little more 380 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:42,920 Speaker 1: time on that which we are going to do. After 381 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: another quick sponsor break, Frederick Douglas first met Susan B. 382 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: Anthony in eighteen forty five, but his direct involvement with 383 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,160 Speaker 1: the movement for women's suffrage really started after he moved 384 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,439 Speaker 1: to Rochester with this family in eighteen forty seven. That December, 385 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: he published his first issue of his newspaper, The North Star, 386 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: which was one of several newspapers he would create and 387 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: run during his lifetime. The North Star was printed with 388 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: the motto right is of no sex, Truth is of 389 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 1: no color. God is the father of us all, and 390 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: we are all brethren and The Seneca Falls Convention began 391 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: on July nineteenth of eighteen forty eight, and Douglas was 392 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: one of only thirty two men out of about three 393 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: hundred attendees. Of these men, he was the only one 394 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: who supported Elizabeth Katie Stanton's resolution that women be allowed 395 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: to vote, and he seconded her motion that the right 396 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: to vote be one of their resolutions. He was one 397 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 1: of the signers of the Declaration of Sentiments. Another woman's 398 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: rights convention was held almost immediately in Rochester on August 399 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,400 Speaker 1: two of eighteen forty eight, and Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth 400 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 1: Katie Stanton recommended that Douglas be made its chair, although 401 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,199 Speaker 1: he ultimately wasn't. He did attend and speak at this 402 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:07,239 Speaker 1: convention as well, and both conventions were covered in the 403 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,639 Speaker 1: newspaper of the North Star. This was really um like 404 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: Frederick Douglas was already under a huge amount of scrutiny 405 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: because he was a black man living in America, and 406 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: becoming involved in the women's rights movement brought on a 407 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: whole other layer of scrutiny because men who were involved 408 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: in the movement were viewed with extreme suspicion and derision. 409 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,640 Speaker 1: There was a lot of undertone of like, something must 410 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:32,200 Speaker 1: be wrong with you for you to be into this. Yes, 411 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: so there's definitely a lot of bravery in that move 412 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,200 Speaker 1: And in addition to being actively involved in the movement 413 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: for women's rights and suffrage, Douglas took those ideas back 414 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: with him to the movement for abolition. In eight Douglas 415 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 1: presided at the National Convention of Colored Freedman in Cleveland, 416 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 1: and under his leadership, the convention passed a resolution affirming 417 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: equality between the sexes and women were actively invited to participate. 418 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: Douglas presided over and introduced similar affirmations at other abolitionist 419 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: meetings as well. Although obviously there were also black suffragists 420 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 1: such as I. Toby Wells Barnett and A. Julia Cooper. 421 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,399 Speaker 1: The suffrage movement as a whole was largely focused on 422 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: the needs and wants of relatively affluent white women, like 423 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: if you read the Declaration of Sentiments, there are parts 424 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: in it about things like your property becoming your husband's 425 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: property when you marry. So we're starting from the foundation 426 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: of women affluent enough to have property. It's kind of 427 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:37,439 Speaker 1: a narrow segment of women. At the end of the 428 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:42,639 Speaker 1: Civil War Reconstruction efforts to guarantee civil rights, including the 429 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: right to vote to former slaves and their descendants, clashed 430 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,399 Speaker 1: with this focus of looking for voting rights for white women. 431 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,800 Speaker 1: At first, it actually seemed as though these two movements 432 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,520 Speaker 1: for suffrage could combine. At the first Women's Rights Convention 433 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:00,199 Speaker 1: after the Civil War, its name was changed to the 434 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 1: Equal Rights Association, which would work toward universal suffrage, not 435 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,359 Speaker 1: just suffrage for women, and Frederick Douglas was one of 436 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 1: the Equal Rights Association's three vice presidents. But as the 437 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 1: Reconstruction amendments to the Constitution were drafted, a schism developed 438 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,199 Speaker 1: within the movement. The May eighteen sixty nine meeting of 439 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: the Equal Rights Association took place after Congress had passed 440 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 1: the Fifteenth Amendment, as it was up for ratification by 441 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: the States. This amendment read quote the right of citizens 442 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: of the United States to vote shall not be denied 443 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,639 Speaker 1: or abridged by the United States or by any State, 444 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 445 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 1: So this amendment made no reference to the rights of 446 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,360 Speaker 1: vote as related to sex, and Douglas was willing to 447 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,439 Speaker 1: accept this less than universal suffrage because he knew how 448 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 1: much resistance there was to women's voting rights in much 449 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: of the nation, and he thought it was likely that 450 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: the fifteenth Amendment could only be ratified it if it 451 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: didn't include women. He also thought that white women wanted 452 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: the right to vote but had other ways to take 453 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 1: political action, while overall the black population desperately needed to 454 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 1: vote because they had no other means to take political 455 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: action themselves. Of course, many of the Equal Rights Association 456 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: vehemently disagreed, and the ensuing discussion, Douglas said, quote, when 457 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:26,439 Speaker 1: women because they are women are dragged from their homes 458 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,800 Speaker 1: and hung upon lamp posts, when their children are torn 459 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,160 Speaker 1: from their arms and their brains dashed out upon the pavement, 460 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:37,399 Speaker 1: when they are objects of insult and outrage at every turn, 461 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: when they are in danger of having their homes burnt 462 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: down over their heads, when their children are not allowed 463 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:48,440 Speaker 1: to enter schools, they will have an urgency to obtain 464 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: the ballot equal to black men. Someone from the audience 465 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,040 Speaker 1: then asked whether this was not also true of black 466 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: women as well, and he answered yes, yes, yes, it 467 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,119 Speaker 1: is true of the black woman, but not because she 468 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: is a woman, but because she is black. So he 469 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 1: was basically pointing out that like yes, it was right 470 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: and and important for women to have the right to vote, 471 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,440 Speaker 1: but the need was a lot more dire for black 472 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: people to have the rights to vote. The debate over 473 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,399 Speaker 1: the fifteenth Amendment split the Equal Rights Association. At the 474 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,680 Speaker 1: conclusion of the meeting, it was disbanded, with Susan B. 475 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,880 Speaker 1: Anthony and Elizabeth Katie Stanton forming the National Woman's Suffrage 476 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:37,119 Speaker 1: Association to once again focus only on voting rights for women, 477 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,360 Speaker 1: even to the extent of directly opposing the fifteenth Amendment. 478 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: Those who supported the fifteenth Amendment formed the American Woman 479 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: Suffrage Association. We should also make it clear that this 480 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,959 Speaker 1: was not just an ideological dispute over the wording of 481 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: the fifteenth Amendment and whether it included any references to 482 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 1: sex or gender. There was also explicit sitism at work, 483 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: with Elizabeth Katie Stanton, for example, saying quote, what will 484 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: we and our daughters suffer if these degraded black men 485 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:11,040 Speaker 1: are allowed to have the rights? That would make them 486 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 1: even worse than our Saxon fathers. I also kept finding 487 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,080 Speaker 1: reference to a quote by Susan B. Anthony about how 488 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,040 Speaker 1: she would rather cut off her right arm than campaign 489 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: for vote for black people before women. I couldn't find 490 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 1: the original place where she purportedly said that, but it 491 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: came up over and over. There were also elements of 492 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: the suffrage movement who argued that women should have the 493 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: right to vote because white women would help form a 494 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: voting block that would help maintain white supremacy, even if 495 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 1: black people could also vote, and one such advocate of 496 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: this was Henry B. Blackwell, husband of suffragist Lucy Stone. 497 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: When the fifteenth Amendment was ratified on February three, eight seventy, 498 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 1: Frederick Douglas immediately began campaigning for a sixteenth Amendment to 499 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,240 Speaker 1: grant voting rights to women and he would continue to 500 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: advocate for women's suffrage for the rest of his life. Sadly, 501 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: Charlotte Woodward was the only signer of the Seneca Falls 502 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:13,400 Speaker 1: Conventions Declaration of Sentiments to live to see the ratification 503 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,240 Speaker 1: of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote 504 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,680 Speaker 1: on August eighteenth of nineteen twenty. Apparently because of her 505 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,400 Speaker 1: poor health, she never actually got to vote herself. But 506 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: even then, the same racially discriminatory voting laws that had 507 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 1: already been suppressing black men's right to vote since the 508 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: end of Reconstruction just applied to black women as well. 509 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 1: So although the letter of the Nineteenth Amendment gave black 510 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,720 Speaker 1: women the right to vote, it was not until the 511 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: Voting Rights Act of nineteen sixty five that many Black 512 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: women and other women who were part of, you know, 513 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 1: minority populations, were actually able to do so. And of course, 514 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:57,840 Speaker 1: discriminatory voting laws and attempts to suppress voters still exists today. 515 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: I feel like every time I turn around, there's another 516 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,880 Speaker 1: case before the Supreme Court about it. To close out 517 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 1: his story, we're going to return for a moment to 518 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,960 Speaker 1: Frederick Douglas's last years in the eighteen seventies, He moved 519 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 1: to Washington, d c. And his wife, Anna, died of 520 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 1: a stroke in eighteen eighty two. In eighteen eighty four, 521 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: he remarried a woman named Helen Pitts, which raised some 522 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: eyebrows because she was about twenty years younger than he 523 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: was and she was also white. On February, Frederick Douglas 524 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 1: went to a meeting of the National Council of Women. 525 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 1: He came home and began preparing to give a speech 526 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: at a local church when he died suddenly of a 527 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 1: heart attack. He was about seventy seven. He had been 528 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:45,200 Speaker 1: campaigning for equal rights until literally the last day of 529 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: his life, that is Frederick Douglas. We were actually joined 530 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: by Frederick Douglas there in Seneca Falls. Yeah. It was 531 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: quite exciting. They had a wonderful reenactor there who was 532 00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 1: really great, and he came in a halfway through and 533 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 1: I turned into Buddy the Elf. Yeah. He uh. He 534 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 1: was very gracious. He he was um, he was so kind. 535 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,360 Speaker 1: He we had a lot of people who wanted to 536 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 1: have pictures made after the show. Um, and he accommodated everyone. 537 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: It was super gracious and warm and lovely the whole time. Yeah, 538 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 1: so everyone we met uh and while we were in 539 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,760 Speaker 1: Seneca Falls. UM was gracious and kind and welcoming. The 540 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: National Park Service staff that we met were all amazing. 541 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 1: We I said. I said at the top of the show, 542 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:39,240 Speaker 1: we were so honored to be able to do this show. 543 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:44,760 Speaker 1: Um there in the Wesleyan Chapel and its great. So 544 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:47,600 Speaker 1: if you get a chance to go to Seneca Falls, 545 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:51,360 Speaker 1: especially to go to a future convention days Uh, Yeah, 546 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,880 Speaker 1: we had a great time. That's a pretty great event. Yeah, 547 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,000 Speaker 1: Sadly we did not get to spend a ton of 548 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 1: time in Seneca Falls. It was a very Uh that 549 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:03,120 Speaker 1: was a quick, quick turnaround trip. Yeah, it was a 550 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:05,480 Speaker 1: quick turnaround trip for both of us. Oh, and I 551 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 1: also would like to thank my spouse for riding with 552 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,280 Speaker 1: me slush and driving the car all the way there 553 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:14,959 Speaker 1: and back. We made a weekend trip out of it, 554 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 1: and I don't think I could have made the drive 555 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 1: by myself because it's it's it's a stretch. Do you 556 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: also have some listener mail for us? I sure do. Um. 557 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: This is from Rick and it is about our Unearthed 558 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:34,120 Speaker 1: in July episode. Rick says, I was listening to your 559 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 1: latest Unearthed episode while commuting to work today and your 560 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: discussion of brew stones felt especially serendipitous to me. In California, 561 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 1: fourth graders learn about California history and in particular, the 562 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: California Missions system. My daughter is entering fourth grade in 563 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 1: the Falls, and my wife and I have taken upon 564 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: ourselves to take our daughter to visit all twenty one 565 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,640 Speaker 1: missions in California. This weekend, we were visiting the mission 566 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 1: San Francisco, Solano and so No, the northernmost and last 567 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:05,040 Speaker 1: mission built. During the tour, from our docent, we were 568 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,600 Speaker 1: told about how the Native American tribes in the area 569 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: Miwalk and Pomo cooked inside woven baskets. Obviously, they couldn't 570 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,200 Speaker 1: place them on a fire like you would with an 571 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 1: iron pot, so they would drop a heated stone into 572 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: the basket filled with acorn porridge, which was the staple 573 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 1: food source for them. Apparently, worldwide, the use of stones 574 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 1: for cooking liquids has been prevalent in all Stone age societies. 575 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your incredible show. Even as 576 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:31,640 Speaker 1: a rabid fan of history, I learned something new every week. 577 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:35,080 Speaker 1: Keep up the good work, Rick. Thank you so much. Rick, 578 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:39,359 Speaker 1: I somehow did not know that, and now I do, 579 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 1: and I am kind of delighted to know that this 580 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:46,279 Speaker 1: is a phenomenon from all over the world. I think 581 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 1: I just assumed that if you did not have iron 582 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: pots yet and you were cooking food over a fire, 583 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:58,400 Speaker 1: you were skewering things on sticks. This. Um, I gotta confess. 584 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 1: I always have that like crafty part of me that 585 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 1: wants to try stuff like this, but I envision making 586 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 1: a horrible disaster. Yeah, and you you had brought up 587 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: when we did that unearthed episode that it brings a 588 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:16,319 Speaker 1: whole new meaning to stone soup Um story that many 589 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,879 Speaker 1: of us have heard as children. Anyway, one more thank 590 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,319 Speaker 1: you to everyone who was involved at convention days and 591 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:27,239 Speaker 1: Seneca Falls in the National Park Service, folks, all of that, 592 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:29,560 Speaker 1: which was we were so glad to be there. We 593 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:33,040 Speaker 1: had such a good time. Fingers crossed that. Uh. We 594 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:37,279 Speaker 1: we don't have to studio redo our live shows very often. 595 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,880 Speaker 1: I think this is only the second time, and uh 596 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:41,440 Speaker 1: the first time, it was only part of it that 597 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:44,320 Speaker 1: we needed to read. So anyway, if you would like 598 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,239 Speaker 1: to write to us, we were at History Podcast at 599 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,880 Speaker 1: how Stuffworks dot com. We're also on Facebook at facebook 600 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:51,040 Speaker 1: dot com, slash miss in History and on Twitter. At 601 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:54,000 Speaker 1: miss in History, are Tumbler, miss in history dot tembler 602 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,080 Speaker 1: dot com, basically all of our social media, including Pinterest 603 00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,560 Speaker 1: and Instagram all at miss in history dot com. You 604 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:01,520 Speaker 1: can come to our parent company's website, which is how 605 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,040 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com to find information on just about 606 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 1: anything your heart desires. You can come to our website, 607 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: which is missed in history dot com, where you will 608 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,040 Speaker 1: find a searchable archive of every episode that we have 609 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,800 Speaker 1: ever done, also show notes for all the episodes Holly 610 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:17,839 Speaker 1: and I have done other cool stuff. 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