 Well, hello from the National Archives public programs and education team. My name is Missy McNatt and I'm an education specialist in Washington, D.C. And welcome to the National Archives Comes Alive Young Learners Program. You can find information about our future programs on the National Archives website, archives.gov, under attend an event, and on the National Archives Facebook page. This morning we meet Frederick Douglass, portrayed by Darius Wallace, actor, director, speaker, and educator. Frederick Douglass was one of the most remarkable figures in American history. He escaped from slavery, became a renowned abolitionist with unparalleled oratory skills, and was a prolific writer as well. He served as the ambassador to Haiti from the United States. And he was the champion of the causes of people throughout his life. In the holdings of the National Archives we have numerous records related to Frederick Douglass. On this next slide we see two of them. One is a photograph of Frederick Douglass from 1879, and the other one is a poster extolling the virtues of Frederick Douglass actually from 1945. On the next slide we have two more documents related to Frederick Douglass. One is a recommendation to be the ambassador to Haiti. And the other one is Frederick Douglass' acceptance of that position. And I always think it's great to be able to see someone's handwriting. And these documents are found in docsteach.org. And on the next slide we have the DocsTeach activity, again it's docsteach.org that is connected with today's program. And we will share this slide at the end of the program. At the end of Frederick Douglass' presentation we will have a question and answer session with him. So please write your questions in the YouTube chat box. We have a National Archives staff member who is monitoring it. And let us know where you're watching from. This program is brought to you by the National Archives Public Programs and Education Team, the National Archives and the National Archives Foundation. Now it is my great pleasure to introduce to you Frederick Douglass, whose tireless efforts and work over the years made such a difference, a positive difference in the lives of so many people. And I look into the stars and I think to myself, what wonder those stars I imagine the stars didn't look back to me to say what wonder this star indeed stars we are all and all like stars we fall who does this land to come back to my old slave quarters with three reasons one, to address my former slave master with choice words before I performed the deed and two, to address you for I hear some of you all are planning on migrating north thinking there you will experience greater freedom. But I'll assure you there's no more freedom there than here only a different kind of slavery and three, to discover who my father is. Most of my young life I've had one man or another over me in each instance. I've wondered if he were my progenitor the cause of my existence and an extra one for to address my former slave master with choice words before I performed the deed swing, oh, sweet, come in for the care of me, oh, I was born in Talbot County, Maryland. My mother was Harriet Bailey. My father was I don't know who my father was. My mother worked on another plantation and she would walk 20 miles to hold me at night and was gone before daybreak. I was raised by my grandmother, Miss Betsy Bailey, an old settler of sorts. She was held in high esteem far higher than most colored persons in slave states. Oh, I don't know because I was too old for field service or because I so faithfully perform my duties early in life. I don't know. All I know is I enjoyed the high privilege of living in a cabin separate from a slave quarter with no other burden and take care of all the children around the plantation. You know the plantation was so cold that even the slave masters children have become the ghetto grandmas gifts. Yes, I was famous for making nets for catching fish. And not only was I famous making the nets, I was also famous for catching the fish. We'd be out there all sometimes half day while it was said some of the slave masters be out there all day. Even they have become get them some fish to feed their families. Yes, I took care of all the children around the plantation, including little Freddy. Freddy, Freddy, Freddy, if you don't get your high yellow behind up here to be a cold day and luciferous back yard, I don't beat all the black stuff on you. You've been playing in the chicken coop, hadn't you? Didn't I tell you not to play in the chicken coop? Did not tell you not to play in the chicken coop? And you get in there right now, you get grandma's nest and go on and go fishing. Be the black boy. I don't get in trouble with the white boys getting trouble, but no, sir. I don't get in trouble even my fault and not wrong because we ain't got no fork in the eyes. I don't get in trouble for eating with the tablecloth dirty because we eat our meals on the floor. And I don't get in trouble for getting my clothes dirty because my clothes are already dirty. I ain't got no mama. I ain't got no daddy. I get to be as bad as I want to be. I get to play with the roosters. I get to play with the horses. Me. I get to play with the cows. Me. And I get to play with the chickens. I love entertaining chickens. I can walk like a chicken. I can talk like a chicken. I can peck my neck in the ground like a chicken. And I get to eat the chickens. I run wild. They call me little chicken friend, but my grandmother don't like it though. She say she don't want me to be a chicken who's a scaredy cat. I won't be no chicken who's a scaredy cat because I don't like cats. But I love chickens. And one day I was running from my grandmother and she pulled out this brown leather belt to me and fastened it like lightning. She couldn't catch me to go because playing with chickens taught me how to run fast. I run through her legs. I jump over her shoulders. I run around her. And then one day I was running from my grandmother and it seemed like her fist grew long and traveled faster than the horse up to hear the sound of a gunshot. And when I saw what was covered from my face, it was my grandma's big black fist knocking me to the blackest of nights. And when I woke up, I would often be here telling me stories. And one story she'd tell me is a famous story. And it's all about an eagle who thought he was a chicken too. Hey man, hey man, hey man, hey man. One day an eagle's egg was placed into the nest of chickens. And one day the eagle had hatched. And he looked around and he saw surrounded by all these little chickens. So the eagle, he began to act like a chicken. The eagle began to walk like a chicken. The eagle began to talk like a chicken. The eagle pecked his neck in the ground like a chicken and flew only a few feet off the ground like a chicken. One day the eagle grew up and he looked into the sky and he saw a speck. And the speck became a ball and the ball became a bird. And the bird became a huge beast flying in the sky, soaring in the winds. And the eagle, who thought he was a chicken, said to his neighbor who was a chicken, wow, what kind of bird is that? I want to be just like him. And his friend said, oh, why that's an eagle, the king of the birds. But don't you give it a second thought. You'll never be like him. So the eagle never, ever gave it a second thought. And he died one day still thinking he was a chicken. What a tragedy, built to saw in the heavens. But he spent the rest of his life flying only a few feet off the ground. Freddie, never settle for less than the best and always be the best you can be. Amen. Amen. I was a strong influence on that boy. Well, unfortunately, the time came for little Freddie to be taken away from me. You see, the slave master had needed some more slaves on another plantation, and they wanted to take little Freddie from me. He had brothers and sisters over there he didn't even know. I had to keep the sad fact from him because if I had told him, there would have been no keeping him. So I got him up early, one sunny morning, and I put him on my back and told him we'd go for a walk in the woods. And after walking about 20 miles, he would hold on to my hand so tight. So I was afraid of everything. He'd often think trees to be wild beasts and logs to be monsters. But I would hold on to his hand tight and I'd sing to him to calm him down. I want Jesus to walk with me. I want Jesus to walk with me. And I let him off my shoulder and I told him to go on and play with your little brothers and sisters. It'd be OK. And I called the little boys. He ran on and played. And it was the last smile I saw on little Freddie's face. And while he was playing and having a great time, I kindly made my way back out to the woods for him to see me. But it wasn't long before I could hear him calling after me. Grandma. Grandma. I want my grandmama. Where's my grandmama? I want my grandmama. Where's my grandmama? I don't want it so bad to go back after him. But it would have endangered him and his life and mine. So I just kept singing to myself, ignoring the screams. I want Jesus to walk with me. I want Jesus to walk with me. When home is lost and journey want Jesus with me. Never ever saw my grandmother again as a child. I did not understand the meaning of those songs. I myself was within the circle so that I neither saw nor heard with those without my see or hear they told a tale of woe. That was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension. They were tongues loud and long and deep. They breathed a prayer in complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains to those tones. I give credit to my understanding of the dehumanizing character of slavery. I cannot get rid of those songs. They follow me even to this day to deepen my hatred of slavery and quicken my sympathy for my brethren in bondage. If anyone wishes to understand the dehumanizing character of slavery, let him go down to Colonel Lloyd's plantation at Pine Noon and place himself in the deep pine woods and there in silence. Let him analyze the sounds that shall fill the chamber of his soul if he is not thus impressed. It will only be because there is no flesh at his heart in the American slave system. There's no meriting to establish family. There's no education to establish skill and learning and the light of the gospel shut out from the dark mind of the bondage and him forbidden by law to learn to read if a mother shall teach her daughter to read. The state of Virginia says she shall be hanged by the neck. In the state of Texas, if a father shall teach his son the knowledge of letters, he will be killed by the discretion of the court. Three million people shut out from the light of knowledge. Three million people shut in to the darkness of ignorance. Three million people that are bound by the chains of evil that can only result from such a state of things. But I am bound by the prayers and the tears and the supplications of three million of my countrymen and will bargain with no man connected to the American slave system whatsoever. I will expose slavery. To expose it is to kill it. I am slavery to the light of the sun is to the root of the tree. When the roots are exposed, it must die under it. The only thing the slave master wants from me is silence. The only thing he wants from me is darkness on the subject of what I want is for the American slave system to be surrounded by howling anti-slavery walls of fire. So the slave master can see his own condemnation and his system come tumbling down and flaming letters of light. I wonder where the coward shows. He knows I'm here. I have so many words, words of hatred overflowing in me. I still feel the bloody whip on our back and hear our cries. Maybe if I just attack him with my words, maybe he'll prevent. Barney, good, smart, and valuable slave. A conflict between him and the slave master would change my life forever. I love horses. There's something peaceful about a horse. Y'all love horses? You ever rode a horse? You better learn. Little Freddy, why ain't you been riding on my horses and helping me with my horses? You know, you're going to have to learn how to do that. You're going to have to learn how to work. Work will make you strong and make you feel good about yourself. Your grandma ever told you about the eagle who thought he was a chicken? The way she'd tell it ain't no story, boy. Let me tell you how it should be told. See, the eagle, when he was up in the sky, he looked down at the little eagle and he said, hey, there, young fella, what you doing down there with all them chickens? You need to come on up here with me and fly high in the sky and soar in the winds. But the eagle, she thought he was a chicken, said, oh, excuse me, sir, you're greatly mistaken. I am a chicken. But the big old brown bird laughed. The devil is a lie. You are an eagle. Why, look at your big old brown feathers. Help protect you when you're flying close to the sun and look at your big old brown feet. Help get you up here. Look at your big old wings. Help you catch your prey and your fierce eyes to help you have great vision. But one of the chickens said, don't listen to the big old brown bird in the sky. He's lying to you. Besides, nobody's allowed to fly any higher than any of us can fly. You are a chicken. You're just a deformed chicken. That's the reason why you look the way you do. Well, in this moment, the eagle, who thought he was a chicken, had to make a choice. He could choose to believe he was an eagle or he could choose to believe he was a chicken. And it was a sense of freedom in the choice. So he chose to believe he was an eagle. And he began to flap his wings and flew high and high and grew stronger and stronger and flew high into his destiny. Barnett! Yes, sir? Come in, sir. Barnett was a good slave. He was well skilled in horse medicines and dumb. He could remove lampers from horses' mouths. He got presents from me. But he also got strikes as well. But nothing was more intolerable than the mismanagement of my horses. The beds must be softer and cleaner than some of my human cattle. Barnett, any other slave would mismanage my horses. They must stand in front of me, hat in hand, lips sealed, never answering the word. Barnett, take off your hat. Yes, sir. Barnett, take off your jacket. Also, yes, sir. Barnett, down on your knees. Excuse me, sir. Down on your knees. My old feeble knees touching the damn cold ground, my head blistering in the sun, and my shoulders bare to the wind. Now, here are two men. There's the silvery locks of the slave master and the worn-out brow of old Barnett. Master, slave, superior and inferior here, but equals at the bar of God. And the slave master, whom Barnett had given the best years of his life, came forward and laid some 40 lashes on him. And the screams and the yells of Barnett fueled the wrath of the slave master. Have mercy on me, he cried. Have mercy on me, he cried. And after laying some 40 lashes on him, he cut him down. He could hardly stand when the slave master finished with him. And though the child I was, it left in me feelings far, far from peaceful. I was taken to another plantation under a more satisfactory master and mistress. Her name was Miss Sophia. And here, I was surrounded by the house slaves. It was a drastic change. House slaves ate well, they spoke well, they dressed well, and I come to find out that Miss Sophia took delight in me because she loved chocolate. You see, when she was a child, her mother took delight in making her little chocolate mint and taking the light in such mint, she took delight in me as her little chocolate Freddy. Little chocolate Freddy could do no wrong with Miss Sophia. I couldn't even approach her the way I approached my old slave master and mistress because she was more like a mother to me. I would often overhear her reading the Bible, which swapped in me a desire to read, which was against the law. I simply asked her to teach me to read. And do you know she taught me without hesitation? Over time, Kai and little chocolate Freddy could read. I could write. I could spell words. But when her husband found out about it, he was very angry, which you think would have discouraged me, but in fact encouraged me on the power of the written and spoken word. He'd go on to say, oh, it's unruly. Do much harm and cause mischief. Give a slave an inch. He's not going to take a foot. You teach that slave how to read. He's going to learn how to write. And you teach him how to read the Bible. He'll be running away with himself. It was the first anti-slavery lecture I had ever heard. I now knew that reading and writing was my direct pathway from slavery to freedom. Indeed, this chicken was becoming an eagle. Light had come. Knowledge had increased. But the price I would eventually have to pay would be the iron chain around my wrist and the bloody whip on my back. A black child is no threat to any plantation at all as long as he's a child. But when he becomes a man, he becomes a severe threat. And reading and education to that, and this slave master might find his whole plantation revolutionized. I was eventually taken to another plantation under another slave master. They called him the slave breaker. Seeing that I could read, he began beating me. Every day, he caught me reading a book. It was all about a swan who thought he was an ugly duck. The first time he beat me was after doing the work of 10 men. I fell out in the hot sun. The next time he beat me was after having trouble controlling mules. He laid some 50 lashes on me. He beat me every day, except Sunday. He was a religious man. And he felt that day to be holy. So he holy kept from whipping on me. Work, work, work was the order of the day. We worked from sun up to sun down. And finally, the desire to read died. The light of being free went away. And behold, this ego transformed back into a chicken, a man into a brute. Oh, this here here. I see the master's face reflected in the night sky. We reflect the trees. Even though we're rooted in the earth, our branches are frozen in terrified time. How is it that so few stars can control the black night? How is it that so few men can control us? I decided to run away from the plantation as far away as I could or when I got out into the woods. I remember they sent out dogs to chase after it. So when I saw the water, I decided to step into the water so the dogs wouldn't be able to smell my scent. I remember it from the song my grandmother used to sing. Wait in the water. Wait in the water, children. Wait in the water. God's going to trouble water. God's going to trouble water. God's going to trouble water. And I remember as I was waiting in the water, I began thinking to myself, I was told that God was good, that he made white people to be slave masters and black people to be slaves. But this went against all my notions of goodness. It wasn't good that I should be separated from my grandmother. It wasn't good that old Barney should be beaten so. It wasn't good that I should be beaten so. Oh, it's dark here. But the light of truth pierces the darkness. It's not color, but crime. It's not God, but man. That's the cause of slavery. This truth led to another truth, but man could make God to break. And I would be that vessel through which God would work. I began making my way back to the plantation to confront the slave masters, saying, I made vow to the Lord. And I won't turn back. I will go. I shall go to see what the end is going to be. If you get to heaven before I do, to see what the end is going to be, tell all my friends I'm coming to, to see what the end is going to be. I made vow to the Lord, and I won't turn back. I will go. I shall go to see what the end is going to be. To see what the end is going to be. To see what the end is going to be. The matter of the master's face astonished me. He spoke to me as never before. Perhaps my meditation had more virtue when it did not. But I had forgotten it was Sunday. This had a day. The day of the master's holiness all went well until Monday morning. And the smile that graced the master's face on Sunday wholly disappeared on Monday. And he began beating into the ridiculous. Then something had changed. I certainly saw myself as powerful and forgot about my fears and remembered my God. He called another slave masters. And I began to fight against them too. I fought against them all day. And I come to find out that the only reason why he didn't hang me was because of his reputation of being a slave breaker. Instead, he sent me into the city to build ships. Over time, I learned the skill. And I was soon able to set myself free and became a hero among the slaves. I was free in my body, but was I free in my mind? A contest surpassed, went on inside me. One held me a slave punished for the sins of my skin. The other helped me free, exalted by the grace of God. The contest ended. I knew I was free. And I began to celebrate with exceeding. You, sir, are the holder of two of my sisters and my only brother. They're recorded on your leisure somewhere. Or perhaps you sold them off to some other human fleshmonger. Whatever happened to them and whatever happened to my grandmother that she was more like a mother and a father to me. This deed I intend on doing to you, though horrible, than would be on my part, is no less horrible than what you done to my grandmother, my two sisters, and my only brother. Where are you going with this? This will take you off the starry road to freedom and place you back into bondage. You shall hear from me again, as I hope to hear from you. I shall use you as an example of how man ought to treat each other. But there's no place in my home you cannot stay if need be. Freedom, indeed, is forgiveness. Indeed, forgiveness is freedom without struggle. There's no progress. Freedom is not given, but taken and realized. You all are planning on migrating north, thinking there you would experience greater freedom, but I'll assure you there's no more freedom there than here. Only a different kind of slavery. For a slave state is only a negative state of mind. But a free state is only a positive state of mind. And the starry road to freedom are those positive words, those positive thoughts, those positive actions that lead to a free life. I shall continue in the future, as I have in the past, to fight for freedom using my pen, my voice, and my vote to promote the universal, unconditional emancipation of my entire race. This discussion is not over. Swing, oh, sweet, Harriet, someone's going to carry me home. Swing, oh, sweet, Harriet, coming for to carry me home. I looked into the woods, and what did I see? Coming for to carry me home, a sore hate of men. Coming to set me free. Coming for to carry me home. Well, thank you. That was a magnificent performance. Oh, my goodness. I felt as if I was right there with you the whole time. So thank you so much. Your voice is unbelievable. So we have a few questions for you. And first of all, just thank you for those who are watching. We've got some folks from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and some people from Texas. And let's see. The question, how old were you, or is Frederick Douglass, when his grandmother walked him into the woods? Oh, I was about six years old at that time. OK, so, yeah, old enough to remember, but still very, very young. Very, very young at that time, when he lost his relationship with his grandmother. Right, yes. And it sounds as if you never found out really what happened to your grandmother. Yes, I did, actually. I made a visit back to the plantation. And as in the story, I did actually revisit the plantation. And I found out that even though my grandmother was very respected, as she got older, she became less useful. And eventually, she was sent out into the woods alone to die. Oh, my. Wow. Oh, my goodness. Well, OK, another question. What would you say your greatest accomplishment was? I would say my greatest accomplishment was the assistance in helping the abolition of the abolishment of slavery, not just through speaking and writing and being an abolitionist, but also by encouraging President Lincoln to allow for Black soldiers to fight for their own freedom and the establishment of the 54th Regiment, which was an all Black regiment that was very successful in helping the Union win the Civil War. Yeah, yes. It's a great topic. There's lots of information. So I hope those of you who are watching might check, learn a little bit more about that. And let's see. You talk a lot about education. Why and how important it was when you did learn to read and write. You talked about that as a way to freedom. So how did that play into your your desire to be free and actually becoming free? Well, I appreciate that. Well, at that time, it was against the law that the slaves to read, even the Bible, slaves were not allowed. It was illegal. Believe it or not, they had jails on plantations and I was thrown into one of them, but teaching slaves to read. So I discovered in reading, the slavery was wrong. And I also discovered in reading the power of letters and the power of words or the imagination and how it was affected by letters and words and ideas. And so it gave me ideas about being free. And I read about heroes like Swan Lake and the hero of that book whose name is Douglas, because my original name is Bailey, Frederick Bailey. But when I freed myself, I renamed myself Douglas after that character. And education being important, not as a way of grades, getting A's and B's, even though all of that's good, education from the inside out so that you really know what you've learned and you're able to apply that knowledge to life. And so through letters, through words, through education, through reading produces ideas and ideas produces life, everybody close your eyes. And now open them and look around and everything that you see right now did not exist. It existed in someone's imagination and they had the idea to bring into existence everything you see. And that's freedom, your ability to take your ideas and make them come to life. And that's education. I just want to say a few more things and then we are about out of time. So we do have somebody from a student of film culture from Nigeria, so that's fantastic. And we do have more questions, but I think we are kind of getting, but we do have a nice thank you from a Georgia homeschool group. And they say what a powerful, powerful presentation for African-American boys. So, you know, for those of you who asked the other questions, well, I think you can look them up. There are questions like, did you ever marry? And yes, you did. I know that. Yes, twice. And just quickly, and you have children, you had children, yes, several children. And then very quickly, how many books did you write? Well, there's three major books that I wrote and they are all autobiographies. There's Narrative of an American Slave. There's My Bondage and My Freedom and the last one, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. Oh, thank you. A lot of articles. Find those books. And then our last question, what advice do you have for our young people watching today? My advice that I have for you is, find out what inspires you and cultivate it. That means continue to enrich yourself with what you are inspired by that brings you joy. And then lastly, whatever your talent is, is the key to enrichment in your life. Because you can use it to bless others and serve others. And it also, your talent will open up doors for you in places where you thought you couldn't go. So get in touch with who you are as your talent, your gift, and also what inspires you and brings you joy. Well, thank you. Thank you so much. It really was a powerful, powerful performance and powerful experience. And just, I love the way the music and the stories all came together. So thank you again. And then as promised, the Docs Teach Activity for the program today. And there was a question about what other abolitionists Frederick Douglass worked with. Check out this activity. And you will find many of them that he worked with through this activity. And please do check our National Archives, websitearchives.gov for our December program. Again, thank you for all who watched and have a wonderful day.