The documents to discuss are “Frederick Douglass Encounters Racial Violence in a Baltimore Shipyard” and “The Escape From Slavery of Frederick Douglass, Black Ship-Caulker.”
Answer any two questions about “Frederick Douglass Encounters Racial Violence in a Baltimore Shipyard”:
- What were the working conditions Douglass experienced in the Baltimore shipyard?
- How were Douglass and other black workers treated by the white workers in the shipyard?
- What was at the root of the conflict between white and black workers?
Answer any two questions about “The Escape From Slavery of Frederick Douglass, Black Ship-Caulker”:
- What experiences led Frederick Douglass to take the risk of escaping from slavery in 1838?
- What did Douglass have to do to plan his escape?
- What were some of the major risks and challenges he dealt with in his successful escape attempt?
Week 7 Discussion: Frederick Douglass
“Frederick Douglass Encounters Racial Violence in a Baltimore Shipyard”
1. What were the working conditions Douglass experienced in the Baltimore shipyard?
Based on the questions, that leads to analysis to learn about the working condition as it was experienced by Douglass in the Baltimore shipyard was nothing different as compared to that of the experiences given to other slaves on the note of the previous year. Thus, Douglass and the other black workers could not resist the hostile environment that foreshadows severe stress as well as an assault that was faced by Douglass when he entered the shipyard. Yet, Fredrick Douglas mentions that as he enters the Baltimore Shipyard, he faced hostile encounters that took place on the basis of racial violence. Apart from this, in the Baltimore Shipyard, Douglass mentioned that he faced difficulties in the situation, while he faced severe yelling based on the demands that are ordered by the whites on Douglas (Roy, 2021). Later, on giving out the work experience of Douglass in the Baltimore shipyard, has to face a severe assault on a minor mistake. Hence, later Fredrick Douglass was physically attacked and his eyes were injured this made him realize how white supremacy behaved with the blacks while sharing his experience in the Baltimore Shipyard.
2. How were Douglass and other black workers treated by the white workers in the shipyard?
From this document, I could realize that Frederick Douglass and the other black workers have been facing severity when they were in the Baltimore Shipyard. As this document suggests that they have been facing continuous rivalry and disrespect. Thus, in the Baltimore shipyard, the white laborers kept on disrespecting the blacks and created a hostile situation that was known to the master. In this context, this document even explained how Fredrick was attacked physically and this made his eyes pop out violently, as he was beaten at the work site. Thus, he witnessed how brutal and hostile the situation was created by the white laborers (Roy, 2021). Moreover, Douglass pointed out in this document how the white workers in the shipyard have been treating Douglass and black laborers while creating a hostile situation and providing them with ill-treatment and disrespect.
“The Escape From Slavery of Frederick Douglass, Black Ship-Caulker”:
1. What experiences led Frederick Douglass to take the risk of escaping from slavery in 1838?
The experiences mentioned by Fredrick Douglas with the notion, that he has been treated brutally in the shipyard. Therefore, the hostile situation made him led to take up the risk to escape from slavery in the year 1838. The situation in the shipyard made it difficult for him to survive in the previous document I learned that due to his brutal happenings in the shipyard, his master moved him from the work site. Therefore, Douglass escaped from his slavery, in the form of a disguise while learning the job skills which was forced on him in the Baltimore shipyard. Later, Douglass posed at the sailor while grabbing a train from Baltimore and then he headed towards Philadelphia (Roy, 2021).
2. What did Douglass have to do to plan his escape?
In order to execute his plan to execute, Douglass had to be more careful while planning his escape plan. Documents state that his first attempt to escape the shipyard failed at the last moment because his confidence betrayed him. Hence, when he plotted the second plan, he was conscious and did not even dream to fail it (Roy, 2021). Therefore, in the year 18398, he tried traveling in disguised attire. Apart from this, in order to implement his plan while making a payment to Master Hugh, from his wages. Later, he opened the door for him and charged nine dollars to incorporate his plan. Moreover, the central plan to escape the shipyard was to get rid of the life faced in the shipyard, the brutality, and the hostile treatment, which mainly belongs to the basis of the freedom from the life of being a slave.
Reference
Roy, M. (Ed.). (2021). Frederick Douglass in Context. Cambridge University Press.
