{"product_id":"2940012769244","title":"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave","description":"PREFACE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the month of August, 1841, I attended an anti-slavery convention\u003cbr\u003ein Nantucket, at which it was my happiness to become acquainted with\u003cbr\u003eFREDERICK DOUGLASS, the writer of the following Narrative. He was a\u003cbr\u003estranger to nearly every member of that body; but, having recently made\u003cbr\u003ehis escape from the southern prison-house of bondage, and feeling\u003cbr\u003ehis curiosity excited to ascertain the principles and measures of the\u003cbr\u003eabolitionists,--of whom he had heard a somewhat vague description while\u003cbr\u003ehe was a slave,--he was induced to give his attendance, on the occasion\u003cbr\u003ealluded to, though at that time a resident in New Bedford.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFortunate, most fortunate occurrence!--fortunate for the millions of\u003cbr\u003ehis manacled brethren, yet panting for deliverance from their awful\u003cbr\u003ethraldom!--fortunate for the cause of negro emancipation, and of\u003cbr\u003euniversal liberty!--fortunate for the land of his birth, which he has\u003cbr\u003ealready done so much to save and bless!--fortunate for a large circle of\u003cbr\u003efriends and acquaintances, whose sympathy and affection he has strongly\u003cbr\u003esecured by the many sufferings he has endured, by his virtuous traits of\u003cbr\u003echaracter, by his ever-abiding remembrance of those who are in bonds, as\u003cbr\u003ebeing bound with them!--fortunate for the multitudes, in various parts\u003cbr\u003eof our republic, whose minds he has enlightened on the subject of\u003cbr\u003eslavery, and who have been melted to tears by his pathos, or roused to\u003cbr\u003evirtuous indignation by his stirring eloquence against the enslavers of\u003cbr\u003emen!--fortunate for himself, as it at once brought him into the field\u003cbr\u003eof public usefulness, \"gave the world assurance of a MAN,\" quickened the\u003cbr\u003eslumbering energies of his soul, and consecrated him to the great work\u003cbr\u003eof breaking the rod of the oppressor, and letting the oppressed go free!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI shall never forget his first speech at the convention--the\u003cbr\u003eextraordinary emotion it excited in my own mind--the powerful impression\u003cbr\u003eit created upon a crowded auditory, completely taken by surprise--the\u003cbr\u003eapplause which followed from the beginning to the end of his felicitous\u003cbr\u003eremarks. I think I never hated slavery so intensely as at that moment;\u003cbr\u003ecertainly, my perception of the enormous outrage which is inflicted by\u003cbr\u003eit, on the godlike nature of its victims, was rendered far more\u003cbr\u003eclear than ever. There stood one, in physical proportion and stature\u003cbr\u003ecommanding and exact--in intellect richly endowed--in natural eloquence\u003cbr\u003ea prodigy--in soul manifestly \"created but a little lower than the\u003cbr\u003eangels\"--yet a slave, ay, a fugitive slave,--trembling for his safety,\u003cbr\u003ehardly daring to believe that on the American soil, a single white\u003cbr\u003eperson could be found who would befriend him at all hazards, for the\u003cbr\u003elove of God and humanity! Capable of high attainments as an intellectual\u003cbr\u003eand moral being--needing nothing but a comparatively small amount of\u003cbr\u003ecultivation to make him an ornament to society and a blessing to his\u003cbr\u003erace--by the law of the land, by the voice of the people, by the terms\u003cbr\u003eof the slave code, he was only a piece of property, a beast of burden, a\u003cbr\u003echattel personal, nevertheless!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA beloved friend from New Bedford prevailed on Mr. DOUGLASS to address\u003cbr\u003ethe convention: He came forward to the platform with a hesitancy and\u003cbr\u003eembarrassment, necessarily the attendants of a sensitive mind in such a\u003cbr\u003enovel position. After apologizing for his ignorance, and reminding the\u003cbr\u003eaudience that slavery was a poor school for the human intellect and\u003cbr\u003eheart, he proceeded to narrate some of the facts in his own history as\u003cbr\u003ea slave, and in the course of his speech gave utterance to many noble\u003cbr\u003ethoughts and thrilling reflections. As soon as he had taken his seat,\u003cbr\u003efilled with hope and admiration, I rose, and declared that PATRICK\u003cbr\u003eHENRY, of revolutionary fame, never made a speech more eloquent in the\u003cbr\u003ecause of liberty, than the one we had just listened to from the lips of\u003cbr\u003ethat hunted fugitive. So I believed at that time--such is my belief\u003cbr\u003enow. I reminded the audience of the peril which surrounded this\u003cbr\u003eself-emancipated young man at the North,--even in Massachusetts, on\u003cbr\u003ethe soil of the Pilgrim Fathers, among the descendants of revolutionary\u003cbr\u003esires; and I appealed to them, whether they would ever allow him to\u003cbr\u003ebe carried back into slavery,--law or no law, constitution or no\u003cbr\u003econstitution. The response was unanimous and in thunder-tones--\"NO!\"\u003cbr\u003e\"Will you succor and protect him as a brother-man--a resident of the old\u003cbr\u003eBay State?","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47081838346480,"sku":"2940012769244","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012769244_p0.jpg?v=1763572124","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012769244","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}