The Project Gutenberg EBook of Collected Articles of Frederick Douglass, by
Frederick Douglass

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Title: Collected Articles of Frederick Douglass

Author: Frederick Douglass

Release Date: June 5, 2008 [EBook #99]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARTICLES OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS ***

Here are several articles by Frederick Douglass, whose larger work was
presented in book form as a January, 1993 Project Gutenberg Etext to
commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day last year. We hope people will
continue to contribute works such as this to commemorate this and other
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MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY
RECONSTRUCTION

Douglass, Frederick. "My Escape from Slavery."

The Century Illustrated Magazine 23, n.s. 1 (Nov. 1881): 125-131.

MY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY

In the first narrative of my experience in slavery, written nearly forty
years ago, and in various writings since, I have given the public what I
considered very good reasons for withholding the manner of my escape. In
substance these reasons were, first, that such publication at any time
during the existence of slavery might be used by the master against the
slave, and prevent the future escape of any who might adopt the same
means that I did. The second reason was, if possible, still more binding
to silence: the publication of details would certainly have put in peril
the persons and property of those who assisted. Murder itself was not
more sternly and certainly punished in the State of Maryland than that of
aiding and abetting the escape of a slave. Many colored men, for no
other crime than that of giving aid to a fugitive slave, have, like
Charles T. Torrey, perished in prison. The abolition of slavery in my
native State and throughout the country, and the lapse of time, render
the caution hitherto observed no longer necessary. But even since the
abolition of slavery, I have sometimes thought it well enough to baffle
curiosity by saying that while slavery existed there were good reasons
for not telling the manner of my escape, and since slavery had ceased to
exist, there was no reason for telling it.