Retelling a life in freedom
Compare the second autobiography with the first to see how Douglass deepens his analysis of slavery and claims the right to interpret his own experience, not only to report it.
An original introduction. This guide accompanies the work; it is neither the complete text nor a translation.
Situating the text
Published in New York in 1855 with an introduction by the Black physician and writer James McCune Smith and a dedication to Gerrit Smith, the book appeared after Douglass had broken with Garrison over the Constitution and political action. An introduction by a Black intellectual replaced the white sponsorship of 1845; Ottilie Assing published a German translation in 1860. Ten years after the Narrative, Douglass retells his life at more than twice the length, in two parts, “Life as a Slave” and “Life as a Freeman”. He adds his grandmother’s cabin, the community of the Lloyd plantation and an analysis of slavery as a system that corrupts masters as well as slaves, then follows his years as an abolitionist lecturer, his journey to Britain and his move to Rochester as a newspaper editor.
Following the arguments
Grandmother and plantation : The opening chapters give the enslaved community a fuller life, from Betsey Bailey’s cabin to the songs whose sorrow, he says, outside listeners mistook for contentment. Force and dignity : The fight with Covey becomes a general thesis: a man without force lacks the essential dignity of humanity, and resistance restores what slavery tries to destroy. Facts and philosophy : Douglass recalls the abolitionist John A. Collins telling him to give the facts and leave the philosophy to others; the book asserts his right to interpret his own experience.
Continuing the reading
Compare the Covey chapters with chapter X of the Narrative, then read the chapters on his life among the abolitionists and the appendix of speeches, noting where his judgments of Garrison and of the Constitution have changed. Published in New York in 1855 with an introduction by the Black physician and writer James McCune Smith and a dedication to Gerrit Smith, the book appeared after Douglass had broken with Garrison over the Constitution and political action. An introduction by a Black intellectual replaced the white sponsorship of 1845; Ottilie Assing published a German translation in 1860.
My Bondage and My Freedom shows Douglass taking authority over the meaning of his life, not only over its facts.
Your turn to think.
- What does Douglass add or change when he retells his enslavement ten years after the Narrative?
- Why does it matter that a Black intellectual, not a white abolitionist, now introduces the book?
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