Frederick Douglass — VOICES for REASON

The other night, I attended a performance by actor Derek Van Leer, writer and producer of a one-man show on Frederick Douglass called “My Life in Bondage.” The show was advertised as a “heart-warming, heart-wrenching performance of the amazing life of Frederick Douglass. Douglass was an American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman, and reformer and is one of the most prominent figures in United States history.” Naturally, I had therefore hoped to see a dramatization of Douglass’ heroic contributions to the abolitionist movement.

But disappointingly, the performance chose to focus on Douglass’s struggles and suffering in “chattelhood” rather than what was required to relentlessly pursue freedom and “manhood.” For example, the play included a scene where Douglass suffers a severe beating at the hands of a “slave breaker” named Covey. This brutal scene is described in Douglass’s autobiographies. But what the performance leaves out is Douglass’s response. He chose to fight back and defend himself regardless of the consequences. He successfully beat Covey back after a drawn-out fight. Douglass wrote that this was a turning point in his life as he had resolved that “however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact…I was a man now.” Covey thereafter let him be; the slave had broken the “slave breaker.”

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By his own best estimate, February marks the anniversary of Frederick Douglass’s birth. As is commonly known, Douglass was born a slave, into a system where he could at best hope for physical survival. Yet, by the end of his life, he had traveled from starvation to relative prosperity, from ignorance to intellectual achievement, and from chattelhood to manhood. He set a goal of seeing the centuries-old institution of slavery abolished. This was a goal that would require massive political, legal and social upheaval–and he worked relentlessly to contribute to its realization.

What is less commonly known and appreciated is Douglass’s intellectual contributions to the cause of abolition, and his role as a voice for reason in the years leading up to, during and after the Civil War. His thoughts on the meaning and nature of slavery, the role of government, the evils of racism and the appropriateness of political action are clear and refreshing, indicating a strong respect for the individual and his rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. His story is a source of inspiration for anyone who believes, as he did, that each individual is a sovereign being, and that the proper role of government is to protect individual rights.

A couple of years ago, I had an opportunity to give a lecture on Frederick Douglass in a series titled “Inspiring Heroes.” For a limited time, the audio of that lecture is available for free to registered users on the ARI website. If you’d like to read more, I recommend the most comprehensive of his autobiographies, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, written in 1881 after the Civil War.

Happy birthday, Mr. Douglass.