Frederick Douglass was a popular public speaker in his abolitionist days, but not everybody greeted him warmly or listened eagerly to his words. Hecklers often tried to disrupt his speeches; people threw things at him. Occasionally, they rushed the podium to attack him. Such was the case in the late summer of 1843, when Douglass and two other men organized an abolitionist meeting in Pendleton, Indiana. Local townspeople refused to rent them a building. Undeterred, they set up a podium in the woods and got to work. As the meeting began, a mob of sixty men insisted they not speak. When Douglass and his comrades ignored their threats, the mob tore the podium apart and started throwing punches. One of Douglasss friends lost some teeth; the other had a bad cut on his scalp. Douglass fought back. Wielding a piece of wood as if it were a club, he swung it until the mob broke his right hand and beat him unconscious. Even though the meeting at Pendleton ended abruptly in violence, Douglass kept faith in the abolitionist movement. He continued to give anti-slavery speeches (and face down challengers) for the next twenty-two years. Today, visitors to the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site can see a plaster cast of his right hand - a symbol of his bravery and personal sacrifice - in the museum. Keep your eye out for more posts on #FrederickDouglass and the #PowerofWords as our annual oratorical contest gets closer.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 13:30:00 +0000
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