Historical Romance of the American Negro

by Charles Henry Fowler

"Arise! Shine forth; for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee!" Thus said the Prophet, and Fred. Douglass, in his last book—the history of his life and times—almost sets up a perfect yell of delight at having escaped from the horrors of slavery and being a free man. The few days he spent in New York City among the friends of the free must have been a perfect spring-time of life to him—free, free, free, as the wild waves of the deep! Free to go where he pleased, and to read and study what he liked. Our glorious youthful Fred.—this splendid, well-built, stout-bodied young man of twenty-one, did a very sensible thing whilst in New York. He had a lady-love at Baltimore, a free young woman of color named Anna: but before he moved a step further he sent for her to come on to New York City. So to New York she came, and here the interesting young couple were married. This, indeed, was a very lively stroke of business on the part of Frederick, but he was now at the golden age of twenty-one; it was best for him to marry now, because it would give him something to live and toil for, and also "give ballast to his ship of life." The Great Creator and his daughter "Nature" made no mistakes. My own marriage with my own beloved Tom has been no failure. We have never repented of it, either of us. We could have done no better. And so it was with Fred. Douglass and his beloved Anna, from Baltimore. There never was a more manly bridegroom than he. Above all things he was a Christian and a gentleman, in the very essence of his nature; a man of lofty honor and principle, and with such a man as that a young woman is forever in safety.

All this time, 1838, the Abolitionists were under full swing, led on by William Lloyd Garrison, of Massachusetts, and backed up by all those who beheld the dawn of freedom on the Eastern horizon. Garrison's paper, "The Liberator," sent forth its blasts all over the Northern States; but the North at that time abode in thick darkness as to the rights of colored men to freedom on the self-same footing with themselves. And not only did thick darkness cover the land, but entire legions and hosts of the people were almost as much prejudiced upon the slave question as the slave-holders of the South. They had no more idea of the grand, self-elevating capabilities of the colored race than the child that was unborn; and the ignorant masses of white people were certainly unwilling to give them a chance. And our poor, dear Fred., now a married man, had just to stand his chances, and run his risks with the rest, while the untutored North was in such a crude and chaotic state. Therefore, on account of the presence of so much ignorance and prejudice against men of color in New York City, the friends of freedom considered it unsafe for Frederick Douglass to remain there any longer, and advised him to move on to New Bedford, in Massachusetts, where he would at least be out of danger. We can never forget the honored name of Mr. David Ruggles, a colored gentleman of New York City, in connection with these events. It was he who mainly took charge of our hero and his wife in New York City, and sent them on to New Bedford. And when they arrived in New Bedford, they were met by one Mr. Nathan Johnson, a very intelligent and industrious colored man, a warm friend of theirs, who advanced them a sum of money to redeem their baggage, which was held for fare. He advised Fred. to drop the name of Fred. Lloyd, and to call himself "Fred. Douglass," as he (Nathan Johnson) had lately been reading of Douglass, in Sir Walter Scott's novels, relating to Scotland and the Scotch.

Being now in possession of his freedom, having a sweet young wife and a home of his own, he had something to live for! Douglass had learned the trade of the ship-builder, at Baltimore, but was unable to work at that trade at New Bedford, on account of the prejudices of the white workmen there against color, for had he taken his tools in among them and gone to work, they would all at once have stopped work and left the yard. Such was the character of even Northern men in the year 1838, but Douglass was not the man to flinch. He was strong, hardy and handy at almost everything. If he could not do one thing he could do another; and therefore he picked up a living at anything that presented itself to him.

The whole colored race are preeminently inquiring, and possess a thirst and love for knowledge in the very highest degree. Fred. Douglass was a splendid specimen of this noble trait of character. Being now his own master, he literally devoured knowledge, and his splendid intellect expanded, flourished and grew on apace like the growth of vegetation in the tropics. He was no longer watched, or almost murdered, if he was found with a book in his hand! He was no longer the so-called "property" of a fellow calling himself his "owner," who robbed him of his week's wages, and then pretended to make him a present of a quarter of his own money to treat himself with! Oh, dear me, no! No more of that for him! When this brave young man, this hero of twenty-one had done his day's work, he came home to his beloved Anna at his cosy home in New Bedford, and after he had his supper, the way was clear for a grand time reading "The Liberator," which William Lloyd Garrison sent out every week, and that fired the warm, receptive mind and heart of young Fred., so that his fame as a brilliant conversationalist and a well-read man, spread rapidly throughout the town. He had been often listened to as an exhorter and unusually fervid speaker at the colored Methodist Church in the town, and all men with sharp eyes perceived that another star had risen in the intellectual heavens, and that some circumstance or other would bring him to the front some day. And it came to pass as they had prophesied!

In New Bedford Mr. Douglass had attended several meetings in defence of the poor, oppressed slave; and there he had heard the most unmitigated denunciation of the whole infamous system of slavery. The eloquent, burning language of the speakers went home to his heart. In the summer of 1841, when Douglass was twenty-four years old, an anti-slavery convention was to be held at Nantucket, Massachusetts, a place not far from New Bedford, and the convention would be under the management of the famous William Lloyd Garrison, whose weekly paper, "The Liberator," Douglass had been devouring week by week with such unwonted avidity. He determined to take a little respite from his hard work in the brass foundry, and attend this gathering of anti-slavery people. There was a great assemblage of people at Nantucket. The fires of enthusiasm on behalf of the oppressed slave burned hot and high. In the midst of the vast audience here assembled, there was one Mr. Wm. C. Coffin, who had heard the eloquent and burning words of Frederick Douglass as he harangued the little audiences of the colored Methodist Church in New Bedford. Mr. Coffin sought out our unknown hero, and gave him such a vigorous invitation to speak that his hesitancy, and bashfulness, and backwardness were all entirely overcome, and Fred. Douglass, nothing daunted, now mounted the platform, and made such an oration as filled every thinking man and woman with astonishment. His simple, burning tale of his own wrongs and experiences completely swept his audience away, and like the Queen of Sheba, there seemed to be no more spirit left in them. Fred. Douglass had come to stay!

The name and fame of Fred. Douglass arose like a brilliant and new star in the heavens. He began to travel and lecture in different parts of the New England States, and paid visits to other sections of the North. His noble presence and splendid eloquence drew the eyes and ears of the whole country. His great name crossed the Atlantic, and spread throughout the British Isles. His powerful pen, in the columns of "The Liberator," and elsewhere, added still further to his fame. Everybody who hated and detested slavery desired to see him and to hear him speak. He was a power in the anti-slavery party, and he himself laid the axe most willingly with all his might and main. The question arose, "If one colored man can do so much, what can the whole race do, if they were set at liberty?" On account of the rising excitement all over the land on the slavery question, in the year 1845, the friends of Mr. Douglass sent him to England. In crossing the North Atlantic the passengers called upon him to make a speech on the question of slavery, and he complied. There were several gentlemen on board who most violently objected to any such attacks on their holy (!) institution of slavery; but the captain was master of his own vessel, and put down that Southern mutiny with a strong hand. These pro-slavery gentlemen tried to justify their conduct afterwards in the London papers; but John Bull would not hear them, and it was simply a splendid advertisement for the fair name and fame of Mr. Douglass.

For two years he travelled the British Isles, speaking upon the subject of American slavery. He was received well everywhere, and the fine spreading plains of Old England, the beautiful valleys of Wales, the green fields of Ireland, and the bold mountains of Scotland, all rang with the illustrious name of Fred. Douglass.

Such a man as he was did not belong to the colored race alone, and to the United States; he belonged to the whole world, and to all races. Such men can never be appropriated by one people, but they are, indeed, the common property of all. Douglass returned home, and founded a paper called "The North Star." He moved to Rochester, N. Y., and there he and his family took up their abode. The glorious work for the destruction of slavery went on, grew and increased, and at last brought on the war of secession, and freedom likewise for the entire enslaved race. Mr. Douglass then removed to Washington, and was honored with high offices in the services of his native country. He had the misfortune of losing his darling Anna, though after five years he married again, and went on a wedding tour to Europe and the East, this being his third voyage across the ocean. He died at Washington in February, 1895, at the age of seventy-eight—no very great age, but then he had done the work of ten men, and that wears human life rapidly away.

Thousands of eminent men have arisen from the ranks of the colored race since 1865, and thousands are now upon their feet also. Their names have reached the ends of the earth. But Fred. Douglass was early in the field, and he was a very, very bright particular star. Like John Bunyan, George Washington, and some few others, he shines for all time, and for the entire human race. He did a mighty work for God and humanity. Of all those illustrious men who have been born of women, there has never arisen a greater man, in all the annals of time, than our congenial friend and brother, Fred. Douglass.

My dear reader, I have given but short sketches of two eminent colored men who elevated themselves head and shoulder above their fellows, for the purpose of showing what the race can do. And I could go on to any length in the same strain, and pick out and describe other eminent men whose fame has reached the ends of the earth, though not in the same degree, as Fred. Douglass. But I need not dwell further here in showing what we can do, especially now that we are set free. Though the whole world freely admits that we have done well, and very well, still, we are only now at the threshold of our advancement, for it is only thirty odd years since the close of the war. But in that short time we have beaten every other race in the way of progress, and the sun is only yet one hour above the horizon. By and by we shall have the full noon-day.