My Bondage and My Freedom

The composition of what became known as the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass—what Douglass describes as his “pamphlet”—in the spring of 1845 led him to go to England to escape possible risk. While attempting to buy a ticket on the Cumbria, a ship on the Cunard line, Douglass’s friend, James N. Buffum, told him that he could not travel in the first-cabin with the others. Instead, he would have to ride in the second-cabin. While Douglass’s friends were outraged, he was unfazed. His friends asked him to visit them on the saloon deck and Douglass sometimes obliged, but largely kept to his own section of the ship. Passengers from New Orleans and Georgia did not like the fact that he was going to speak and threatened to throw him overboard, leading to the stern intervention of Captain Judkins who ordered the arrest of the troublemakers. At this announcement, the Southern mob scampered and behaved themselves for the remainder of the voyage. After landing in Liverpool, the offended men went to the press with their complaint, which was a mistake. Their announcement not only brought them public censure but also ensured Douglass a larger