The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave (Webster's Thesaurus Edition)

220 Pages·2006·1.91 MB·English

by  Frederick Douglass

THE NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK
DOUGLASS: AN AMERICAN SLAVE

Webster's Thesaurus Edition for PSAT®, SAT®, GRE®, LSAT®,
GMAT®, and AP® English Test Preparation

Frederick Douglass

PSAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT is a registered
trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE, AP and
Advanced Placement are registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither
sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management
Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT is a
registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses this
product. All rights reserved.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An
American Slave

Webster's Thesaurus Edition for PSAT®, SAT®, GRE®, LSAT®,
GMAT®, and AP® English Test Preparation

Frederick Douglass
PSAT® is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT® is a registered
trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE®, AP® and
Advanced Placement® are registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither
sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT® is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management
Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT® is a
registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses
this product. All rights reserved.
ICON CLASSICS

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The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: Webster's Thesaurus Edition for PSAT®, SAT®, GRE®,
LSAT®, GMAT®, and AP® English Test Preparation

This edition published by ICON Classics in 2005
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Copyright ©2005 by ICON Group International, Inc.

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PSAT® is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT® is a registered
trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE®, AP® and
Advanced Placement® are registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither
sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT® is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management
Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT® is a
registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses
this product. All rights reserved.

ISBN 0-497-01048-8
iii
Contents

PREFACE FROM THE EDITOR..........................................................................................1

PREFACE..........................................................................................................................5

LETTER FROM WENDELL PHILLIPS, ESQ......................................................................15

CHAPTER I.....................................................................................................................19

CHAPTER II....................................................................................................................25

CHAPTER III...................................................................................................................31

CHAPTER IV...................................................................................................................35

CHAPTER V....................................................................................................................41

CHAPTER VI...................................................................................................................47

CHAPTER VII..................................................................................................................51

CHAPTER VIII.................................................................................................................57

CHAPTER IX...................................................................................................................63

CHAPTER X....................................................................................................................69

CHAPTER XI...................................................................................................................99

APPENDIX....................................................................................................................113

GLOSSARY...................................................................................................................121

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 1

PREFACE FROM THE EDITOR

Designed for school districts, educators, and students seeking to maximize performance on
standardized tests, Webster’s paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently
assigned readings in English courses. By using a running thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this
edition of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass was edited for
students who are actively building their vocabularies in anticipation of taking PSAT®, SAT®, AP®
(Advanced Placement®), GRE®, LSAT®, GMAT® or similar examinations.1

Webster’s edition of this classic is organized to expose the reader to a maximum number of
synonyms and antonyms for difficult and often ambiguous English words that are encountered in
other works of literature, conversation, or academic examinations. Extremely rare or idiosyncratic
words and expressions are given lower priority in the notes compared to words which are “difficult,
and often encountered” in examinations. Rather than supply a single synonym, many are provided
for a variety of meanings, allowing readers to better grasp the ambiguity of the English language,
and avoid using the notes as a pure crutch. Having the reader decipher a word’s meaning within
context serves to improve vocabulary retention and understanding. Each page covers words not
already highlighted on previous pages. If a difficult word is not noted on a page, chances are that it
has been highlighted on a previous page. A more complete thesaurus is supplied at the end of the
book; Synonyms and antonyms are extracted from Webster’s Online Dictionary.

Definitions of remaining terms as well as translations can be found at www.websters-online-
dictionary.org. Please send suggestions to [email protected]

The Editor
Webster’s Online Dictionary
www.websters-online-dictionary.org
1 P S A T ® i s a r e g i s t e r e d t r a d e m a r k o f t h e College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT® is a registered
trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE®, AP® and
Advanced Placement® are registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither
sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT® is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management
Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT® is a
registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses
this product. All rights reserved.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 3

Frederick Douglass was born in slavery as Frederick Augustus Washington
Bailey near Easton in Talbot County, Maryland. He was not sure of the exact
year of his birth, but he knew that it was 1817 or 1818. As a young boy he was
sent to Baltimore, to be a house servant, where he learned to read and write, with
the assistance of his master’s wife. In 1838 he escaped from slavery and went to
New York City, where he married Anna Murray, a free colored woman whom he
had met in Baltimore. Soon thereafter he changed his name to Frederick
Douglass. In 1841 he addressed a convention of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery
Society in Nantucket and so greatly impressed the group that they immediately
employed him as an agent. He was such an impressive orator that numerous
persons doubted if he had ever been a slave, so he wrote NARRATIVE OF THE
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. During the Civil War he assisted in the
recruiting of colored men for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments and
consistently argued for the emancipation of slaves. After the war he was active
in securing and protecting the rights of the freemen. In his later years, at
different times, he was secretary of the Santo Domingo Commission, marshall
and recorder of deeds of the District of Columbia, and United States Minister to
Haiti. His other autobiographical works are MY BONDAGE AND MY
FREEDOM and LIFE AND TIMES OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, published in
1855 and 1881 respectively. He died in 1895.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 5

PREFACE

In the month of August, 1841, I attended an anti-slavery convention in
Nantucket, at which it was my happiness to become acquainted with
FREDERICK DOUGLASS, the writer of the following Narrative. He was a
stranger to nearly every member of that body; but, having recently made his
escape from the southern prison-house of bondage, and feeling his curiosity
excited to ascertain the principles and measures of the abolitionists,—of whom
he had heard a somewhat vague description while he was a slave,—he was
induced to give his attendance, on the occasion alluded to, though at that time a
resident in New Bedford.%
Fortunate, most fortunate occurrence!—fortunate for the millions of his
manacled brethren, yet panting for deliverance from their awful thraldom!—
fortunate for the cause of negro emancipation, and of universal liberty!—
fortunate for the land of his birth, which he has already done so much to save
and bless!—fortunate for a large circle of friends and acquaintances, whose
sympathy and affection he has strongly secured by the many sufferings he has
endured, by his virtuous traits of character, by his ever-abiding remembrance of
those who are in bonds, as being bound with them!—fortunate for the multitudes,
in various parts of our republic, whose minds he has enlightened on the subject
of slavery, and who have been melted to tears by his pathos, or roused to
virtuous indignation by his stirring eloquence against the enslavers of men!—
fortunate for himself, as it at once brought him into the field of public usefulness,

Thesaurus
acquainted: (adj) knowledgeable, brother, people, laity, family, flock, ANTONYM: (n) inarticulateness.
informed, aware, cognizant, fold. negro: (n) black, darky, blackamoor,
conversant, hand and glove, intimate, deliverance: (n) salvation, rescue, nigger, Negroid, black person,
thick; (adv) abreast; (v) inform, release, freedom, escape, darkie, coon, moke, lightlessness;
acquaint. emancipation, delivery, relief, (adj) dark.
bondage: (n) thrall, thraldom, liberation, liberty, salvage. pathos: (v) emotion, inspiration,
thralldom, slavery, captivity, ANTONYMS: (n) downfall, impression, affection; (n) poignancy,
enslavement, duress, restraint, yoke, suppression. pity, ruth, commiseration, grief,
vassalage; (adj, n) villenage. eloquence: (n) style, fluency, oratory, poignance, sympathy.
ANTONYMS: (n) independence, rhetoric, articulateness, expression, roused: (adj) excited, awake,
emancipation, freedom. volubility, persuasiveness, articulacy, susceptible, emotional, elated,
brethren: (n) congregation, assembly, facundity, way with words. interested.