71 pages • 2 hours read
Frederick DouglassMy Bondage and My Freedom
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1855A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 17-19
Chapter 17 Summary: “The Last Flogging”
On Saturday morning, feeling that he had not a friend on earth, Douglass set off toward Covey’s and got there around 9:00 am. Covey had been hiding in a fence corner, darted out as soon as he saw Douglass, and tried to tie him up to whip him. Douglass ran back toward the woods and hid in a cornfield. He stayed there until nighttime and laid down to rest. Just then, he heard footsteps. They turned out to be those of an enslaved person named Sandy, who was enslaved by William Groomes of Easton. Sandy’s enslaver, too, had hired him out to a man named Mr. Kemp. Sandy was married to a free woman and was walking toward her home to spend Sunday with her. He invited Douglass to join him there. When they arrived, Sandy’s wife quickly prepared an ash cake. Sandy and his wife, like the other Black people in that area, liked and respected Douglass and figured that he was so persecuted because he was the only enslaved person around who could read and write.
Recalling the supper that he had with Sandy and his wife in relation to those shared with some of the world’s most notable men, Douglass recalled that the meal of ash cake and cold water was the best of his life. After supper, Sandy and Douglass discussed what to do next. Would he return to Covey or seek freedom? The latter option proved to be impractical. He was occupying “a narrow neck of land,” which would make him vulnerable to pursuers (237).
Sandy, who Douglass describes as “a genuine African,” gave Douglass the root of an herb that he promised would offer him protection if he wore it on his right side (238). Sandy claimed that he, too, had been wearing the root for years and no enslaver had ever hit him as a result. Douglass found Sandy’s advice both absurd and sinful. Then, he figured that, if the root did him no good, it would also do him no harm. Also, Sandy had been so helpful to him already. Douglass accepted the roots and placed them in his pocket. Sandy then advised Douglass to go back to Covey’s, as though nothing unusual had occurred.
Douglass entered the Coveys’ gate and found Covey and his wife dressed for church. Covey was in a good mood, which was due to it being the Sabbath. On Monday morning, however, things changed. Before dawn, Covey called Douglass to tend to the horses. He had decided that he would be especially obedient to avoid trouble. While getting the horses ready for the field, Covey, who had crept into the stable, grabbed Douglass’s leg and pulled him to the floor. His aim was to tie up Douglass, who struggled against Covey. The men fought, but Douglass was mainly on the defensive, trying to avoid a whipping. Shocked by Douglass’s resistance, Covey called for his cousin Hughes. Douglass defended himself against this second man, too, who eventually left while crouching in pain after a kick from Douglass.
Douglass and Covey fought until the sun was up. Covey then called Bill Hughes for assistance. Hughes feigned ignorance and walked off. Covey then tried to enlist Caroline, who had arrived to milk the cow, but she avoided any involvement, despite the peril that may have come to her from refusing the man who enslaved her. After two hours, Covey gave up and demanded that Douglass return to work. During his last six months with Covey, Douglass never received another whipping from Covey. Douglass figured that Covey must have been ashamed that a boy of only 16 had bested him. Douglass marks his struggle with Covey as the turning point. He felt himself a man again and vowed that he would do Covey great harm if he ever again attempted violence against him.
Chapter 18 Summary: “New Relations and Duties”
Douglass’s term of service with Covey ended on Christmas Day in 1834. Covey “was now as gentle as a lamb” (248). This time of year is one that most enslaved people relish. The days between Christmas and New Year’s Day are holidays in which there is little work beyond keeping fires and caring for the livestock. Enslaved people who had families were allowed to visit them. Otherwise, the enslaved people engaged in games, drank whisky, and sang and danced to fiddle music. Some of the songs were gibes at enslavers. The holidays, Douglass contends, were ways to preoccupy the enslaved people with pleasure, but only within the limitations of enslavement. These minor allowances would keep the enslaved people happy and maintain the enslavers’ dominance over them. For this reason, enslavers encouraged their enslaved people, too, to dissipate themselves in drink. The drunkenness that resulted sometimes instilled gratitude in them that they didn’t normally have the freedom to drink when they pleased.
On January 1, 1835, Douglass went to William Freeland’s home, which was three miles from St. Michael’s. Freeland had “an old worn out farm” that needed restoration (255). Freeland was very different from Covey. Though he, too, was of humble circumstances, he was well-mannered and had a sense of humanity. He was also non-religious, which also relieved Douglass, who had found religious enslavers to be among the worst.
Freeland gave his field hands enough to eat and time to eat it. Though the enslaved people worked hard daily, they had time to sleep at night. This time with Freeland, however, didn’t quell Douglass’s wish to be free. Moreover, he received visits from Father Lawson again. At Freeland’s, he made other friends: the brothers Henry and John Harris, Handy Caldwell, and Sandy Jenkins. Henry and John’s intelligence, as well as their willingness to learn, spurred Douglass to teach them. Soon, he had started a Sabbath school, which held between 20 and 30 men. All were committed to keeping their instruction a private matter.
One day, three white men, including Thomas Auld, broke into Douglass’s Sabbath school and forbade the enslaved men from ever meeting again. Douglass and the men restarted the school—this time in the room of a small house owned by a free Black man who lived in the nearby woods. In addition to teaching at Sunday school, in the winter, Douglass spent three evenings each week teaching fellow enslaved people. Douglass’s year with Freeland was a smooth one, and he credited Freeland with being the best enslaver he had ever had.
Chapter 19 Summary: “The Run-away Plot”
At the beginning of 1836, Douglass focused on freeing himself, worrying that his time with William Freeland would cause him to grow contented with enslavement. He became closer friends with Henry and John, feeling such a kinship with them that he believed he would have died for them. Trusting them wholeheartedly, he confided in them with his plans for self-liberation. They agreed to go with him, as long as Douglass could show them how to accomplish such a thing.
In hindsight, he and his friends did many things to awaken suspicion in their enslavers, who are keen on observing even the slightest changes in behavior within their enslaved people. Douglass recalls how he and his companions were sometimes remarkably jovial during this time.
After they hatched their plan, the Harris brothers added three more men to their party: Douglass’s friend Sandy Jenkins, Charles Roberts, and Henry Bailey. Douglass was the youngest of the group but the most educated. All of the men lived with decent enslavers who may have one day freed them. None had thought of seeking freedom until Douglass convinced them.
All was well until Sandy began having dreams. He was roused from sleep, he said, by the sounds of an angry swarm of birds who flew over trees. In the dream, Sandy gazed up and saw Douglass in the claws of an enormous bird. Other birds surrounded him then, of all colors and sizes, and pecked at him while Douglass tried to protect his eyes. Douglass was a bit troubled by the dream, but he put any worry out of his mind to discuss the plan of self-liberation.
The men agreed to take “a large canoe, owned by Mr. Hamilton” (281) out into the Chesapeake Bay. They were going to turn the canoe in the direction of the North Star until they reached a free state. Some men in the party worried about “the danger from gales in the bay” (283) while others worried that, once someone noticed the canoe stolen, they would suspect absent enslaved people of having taken it. Then, there was the problem of someone stopping them. Any white man could stop any Black man on the road and arrest him if he suspected that something was awry. Even free Black men who showed their papers were not safe. Those papers would be torn up, giving the man no defense against being resold into enslavement. The five men rehearsed how they would react if interviewed, but they still grew more anxious as the day of departure approached.
On the fateful day, every man, except Sandy, stood firm with the plan. That morning, they went to work, as usual. While working in the field, Douglass had a premonition that someone had betrayed the plan and turned to Sandy, revealing his thought. Sure enough, a group of white men came on horseback. William Hamilton arrived, too, and asked for Freeland, who was in the barn. The men who accompanied Hamilton on horseback were constables. Freeland called for Douglass, saying that the men wanted to see him. When Douglass arrived, the men grabbed him and said that they were going to take him to Thomas Auld. They next arrested the Harris brothers, though Henry resisted crossing his hands for the men to tie them. Two of the constables drew their pistols, demanding that Henry cross his hands; Henry still refused. He then slapped the pistols from their hands and struggled with them. After some time, the struggle ended and the constables tied him.
The constables then searched for the passes that Douglass had supposedly written. Thankfully, Henry’s scuffle with the constables gave Douglass time to succeed in throwing the pass into the fire. As the constables were about to take the men to jail, Betsey Freeland, William’s mother, cursed Douglass for badly influencing Henry and John. The constables led the men away along the highway, tied to three strong horses. Crowds of people stared at them along the way. The only ones among them who looked with sympathy were the enslaved people who worked on plantations alongside the road.
On reaching Thomas Auld’s store, Auld dismissed the enslaved people’s claims of innocence and said that the evidence of their intention to seek freedom “was strong enough to hang [them]” (293). He also said that there was a witness against them. Douglass realized that Sandy must have been the witness. It hurt him too much, however, to suspect him.
In jail, the men sat in separate cells. While there, they were all examined by traders of enslaved people and their agents. These men shook their arms and felt their legs while telling them about the violence they would commit if these refugees “belonged” to them. Their meals in jail were small, but their quarters were better than usual. After the holidays, Hamilton and Freeland arrived to release every enslaved person except Douglass, who they left alone in jail. He worried about Auld selling him to a plantation in the Deep South. A week later, Thomas Auld arrived and announced his intention of sending Douglass to Alabama with a friend who would free Douglass after 80 years of servitude. Douglass didn’t believe this and had never heard of Auld having any friends in Alabama.
Douglass remained in St. Michael’s for a few days before Thomas sent Douglass back to Baltimore to live with Hugh. Thomas had decided that Douglass would learn a trade. If he did so, and behaved himself, Thomas promised to free Douglass when he turned 25. Douglass did not believe this either.
Chapters 17-19 Analysis
The focus of these chapters is Douglass’s alienation and his brief respite from this after his serendipitous meeting with Sandy. Sandy’s belief in West African superstitions contrasted with Douglass’s wholehearted devotion to Christianity, but he accepted Sandy’s offer of a protective root—an item that helped Douglass believe that he was strong enough to resist Covey so that he could overcome his fear of him.
Fear was the primary way in which enslavers, overseers, and other Southern white people within this system controlled enslaved Black people. Another method was manipulation. During the holidays, particularly, enslavers encouraged drunkenness. Temporary relief from their labors fooled some enslaved people, grateful for any opportunity to enjoy entertainment and to see friends and relatives, into believing that their enslavers weren’t so bad.
However, when Douglass describes William Freeland as his best enslaver, this doesn’t excuse Freeland from being a participant in an intrinsically inhumane system. Around the time that Douglass worked for Freeland—another instance in which Thomas Auld hired him out—Douglass started a new study group, this one for Bible study. He persisted in restarting it even after Auld broke it up, committed to Literacy as a Gateway to Freedom. Douglass became increasingly determined to challenge the conditions in which enslavers forced their charges to live and did so by teaching fellow enslaved people to read and to engage with Scripture independently instead of relying on white ministers with self-serving intentions.
At the end of this section, Douglass describes his initiation of his plan and the precariousness of seeking freedom. One had to be careful about one’s route and careful not to exhibit even the slightest change in behavior. There was also the risk that a member of the group would reveal the plot, which is what occurred. Betrayal by a member of a plotting group was the primary reason why the revolts of enslaved people failed. Well-known examples in the US were Gabriel Prosser’s intended rebellion in Richmond, Virginia, and Denmark Vesey’s in Charleston, South Carolina.
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