The man introduced himself to Lincoln, “I am Frederick Douglass.” Everyone knew about the man born Fred Bailey, the escaped slave, self taught, brilliant, imposing gentleman and indefatigable abolitionist. It was acknowledged but not discussed that Douglass’ father was a white man, his master. He never discussed this relationship which must have been one of the most punishing and formative in his life.
Douglass’s mother, Betsey Bailey lived on a neighboring farm. As a small child he was raised by his grandmother, Harriet Bailey. His mother saw him when she could but there was a physical price to pay for trying to be a parent when you were also a slave. She would walk for miles at the end of a hard day to spend a few hours with him and then leave in the middle of the night. If she returned late for work the following morning it would mean a beating. Douglass barely acknowledged her death when he was still a small child.
Recognized as an unusually intelligent child and perhaps to remove him from the sight of the slave owner’s wife he was treated to experience life outside the plantation, in Baltimore. There he was a constant companion to a young master who attended school. At great risk Douglass also learned to read and write and obtained books to study. Later as a teenager back on the plantation he got into trouble for trying to teach other slaves how to read and for planning an escape. He was sent to a man named Covey who was well known for breaking slaves. It did not take long before Douglass was being whipped for a trivial offense; he could not tolerate the injustice of his life and fought back. Like Jacob of the Old Testament on the eve of his reckoning he wrestled for hours with the embodiment of his fate. Douglass’s hands tightened on the surprised man’s throat, his fingernails drawing blood. Eventually they both agreed to let go. It was a revelation to Douglass that the fight was never reported. He reasoned that it would have meant too great a loss of respect for Covey. Douglass’s life took order that day. He could not help being born a slave and he might do the work of one, but whether he would be a slave was a decision that was up to him. Like Jacob he battled his Lord and survived and like Jacob the act of resistance changed him. In his mind he was no longer a slave; he was a man and it would only be a matter of time before he would escape physically and take a new name.
Douglass took every impediment in his life as a challenge, they became opportunities and he moved on. He rose to international prominence as a great orator for abolition and published his own newspaper. That someone as accomplished as Douglass could exist challenged everyone’s notions about the potential of black people.
Lincoln had first heard of him nearly twenty years before when Douglass spoke at an abolition meeting in Pendleton, Indiana which turned into a full blown riot. Douglass and the two other speakers had to defend themselves against a murderous mob. Douglass was seriously injured and his right hand was broken and would never completely heal. The incident was always close in his memory and he would constantly work to be in good physical condition. He lifted weights in his bedroom to be ready for the next attack. Douglass had been highly critical of Lincoln in his newspaper and in speeches for as long as Lincoln had been a national figure. Lincoln did not take the criticism personally and was looking forward to meeting him. But for now, Lincoln kept his extensive knowledge of Douglass to himself. “I know who you are, Seward has told me all about you”.
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