Sept. 3, 1838 Frederick Douglass escapes to freedom
Frederick Douglass, a slave in Maryland, resolved that he would escape bondage, though, if he failed, he would surely die a horrible death.
So it was on September 3, 1838, Douglass dressed up as a sailor, and using a sailor pass borrowed from a brave friend, boarded a train. During his trip on train, ferry, and steamboat, Douglass was gripped with anxiety, but his face betrayed nothing. A bit of misdirection helped. Later, he was recognized, but not betrayed. Minutes, he said, passed as hours and hours as days.
On September 4, he wrote, "I found myself in the big city of New York, a free man; one more added to the mighty throng which, like the confused waves of the troubled sea, surged to and fro between the lofty walls of Broadway… A new world had opened upon me … I lived more in one day than in a year of my slave life. It was a time of joyous excitement which words can but tamely describe." He quickly discovered his new haven was not safe, as people of any race might betray him at any moment. Later, a chance encounter with an officer in the underground railroad gave him a chance that changed his fortunes; at length he became the best known orator in America.
Douglass' complete autobiography (The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass) is free online at ocsouth.unc.edu/neh/dougl92/dougl92.html
