“I am your fellow man, but not your slave, Frederick Douglass.”
This is the story of self-education, self-emancipation, overcoming adversity, bad and good luck, and the abolitionist cause.
Born into slavery in Maryland, Frederick is ripped from his mother, never knows his father, but quickly realizes the power of literacy. Against the odds, the Baltimore-living youth teaches himself to read and write behind his master’s back.
But despite his evident naturally intelligence, he’s soon sent back to the plantations of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where Frederick endures the worst of slave life as he’s beaten weekly by “slave-breaker” Edward Covey. This only comes to an end when Frederick daringly stands up for himself, incredibly breaking the slave-breaker.
The audacious young man goes to the plantation of the much kinder William Freeland, but is nonetheless determined to have his freedom, damn the consequences. And those consequences can be great. Caught runaways are often sold to even greater miseries farther south. Godspeed, Frederick--we’re rooting for you.
79: The Indian Wars (Part 3): Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce & Standing Bear’s Fight for Civil Rights
78: The Indian Wars (Part 2): The Battle of the Little Bighorn (the Greasy Grass)
77: The Indian Wars (Part 1): The U.S.-Dakota War
76: Reconstruction (Part 4): The Battle of Liberty Place and the Mississippi Plan
75: Reconstruction (Part 3): The Rise of the KKK and the First Black Men in Government
74: Reconstruction (Part 2): The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant
73: Reconstruction (Part 1): The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
72: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
71: Revisiting the Hamilton/Burr Duel: An Affair of Honor
70: Epilogue: The Civil War Comes to a Close
69: Surrender at Appomattox: The Last Days of the Civil War
68: Sherman's March to the Sea and the Thirteenth Amendment
67: Ending 1864: The Battles of the Crater, Mobile Bay, Centralia, and Franklin
66: The Election of 1864: Lincoln's Bid for Reelection
65: Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign & The Free State of Jones
Bonus: A New Sound for HTDS (Farewell to Josh, Hello to Lindsay Graham & Airship)
64: Grant's Overland Campaign: The Battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, & Petersburg
Bonus: A Chat about Southern Accents w/ Jeremy Collins from "Podcasts We Listen To"
63: Wounded and Dying: Nurses, Doctors, and Disease in the Civil War
62: The War in Tennessee: Chickamauga and Chattanooga
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