The heroic Slave This page intentionally left blank F r e d e r i c k do u g l a s s The heroic Slave a cultural and critical edition Edited by robert s. levine, John stauFFer, and John r. Mckivigan New Haven & London Published with assistance from the national historical Publications and records commission. Published with assistance from the louis stern Memorial Fund. copyright © 2015 by Yale university. all rights reserved. this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by sections 107 and 108 of the u.s. copyright law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Yale university Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business, or promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] (u.s. office) or [email protected] (u.k. office). Printed in the united states of america. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data douglass, Frederick, 1818–1895. the heroic slave / Frederick douglass ; a cultural and critical edition ; edited by robert s. levine, John stauffer, and John r. Mckivigan. pages cm includes bibliographical references. isbn 978-0-300-18462-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Washington, Madison— Fiction. 2. slaves—united states—Fiction. 3. creole (brig)— Fiction. 4. slave insurrections—united states—history—19th century—Fiction. 5. Mutiny—united states—history—19th century— Fiction 6. douglass, Frederick, 1818–1895 heroic slave. i. levine, robert s. (robert steven), 1953– editor. ii. stauffer, John, 1965– editor. iii. Mckivigan, John r., 1949– editor. iv. title. Ps1549.d66h47 2015 813'.3—dc23 2014029869 a catalogue record for this book is available from the british library. this paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso Z39.48–1992 (Permanence of Paper). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents acknowledgments ix introduction xi Part 1: The Text of Frederick Douglass’s The Heroic Slave Frederick douglass, The Heroic Slave 3 a note on the text 53 Part 2: Contemporary Responses to the Creole Rebellion, 1841–1843 “another amistad case—What Will grow out of it?” 59 “the creole Mutiny” 62 Protest of the officers and crew of the american brig creole 66 “the hero Mutineers” 75 deposition of William h. Merritt 81 “Madison Washington: another chapter in his history” 85 daniel Webster, letter to edward everett 88 William ellery channing, from The Duty of the Free States, or Remarks Suggested by the Case of the Creole 99 vi Contents Joshua r. giddings, resolutions 104 henry highland garnet, from “an address to the slaves of the united states of america” 107 Part 3: Douglass on the Creole and Black Revolution Frederick douglass, from “american Prejudice against color” 113 Frederick douglass, from “america’s compromise with slavery and the abolitionists’ Work” 116 Frederick douglass, from “american and scottish Prejudice against the slave” 118 Frederick douglass, from “Meeting in Faneuil hall” 121 Frederick douglass, from “address at the great anti-colonization Meeting in new York” 123 Frederick douglass, from “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?” 127 Frederick douglass, from “West india emancipation” 133 Frederick douglass, “a black hero” 138 Part 4: Narratives of the Creole Rebellion, 1855–1901 William c. nell, “Madison Washington” 145 samuel ringgold Ward, “Men and Women of Mark” 147 William Wells brown, “slave revolt at sea” 150 lydia Maria child, “Madison Washington” 161 robert Purvis, “a Priceless Picture: history of sinque, the hero of the amistad” 168 Pauline e. hopkins, “a dash for liberty” 178 Part 5: Criticism robert b. stepto, from “storytelling in early afro-american Fiction” 191 Contents vii William l. andrews, from “the novelization of voice in early african american narrative” 202 richard Yarborough, from “race, violence, and Manhood” 207 Maggie Montesinos sale, from “The Heroic Slave” 220 celeste-Marie bernier, from “‘arms like Polished iron’” 226 ivy g. Wilson, from “transnationalism, Frederick douglass, and ‘the heroic slave’” 231 carrie hyde, from “the climates of liberty” 238 chronology of Frederick douglass, Madison Washington, and resistance to slavery 251 selected bibliography 263 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments For their assistance with documents and images, we would like to thank the harvard university librarians emily bell (in government documents), gregory eow (Widener library), and Peter accardo (houghton library); the university of Maryland librarian Patricia herron; and the knowledgeable staff at the library of congress. For their helpful suggestions along the way, we are grateful to celeste- Marie bernier, deborah cunningham, david brion davis, henry louis gates, Jr., howard Jones, Jim oakes, robert Paquette, Manisha sinha, robert stepto, and Zoe trodd. offering crucial assistance with the text of The Heroic Slave, which was developed at the Frederick douglass Papers at indiana university–Purdue university indianapolis, were eamonn brandon, kate burzlaff, James a. hanna, and rebecca Pattillo. their work was supported by the national historical Publications and records commission and the indiana university school of liberal arts at indianapolis. robert s. levine did much of his work on the edition while a guggenheim Fellow, and he is grateful for the support of the guggenheim Foundation. For their encouragement and advice, we are pleased to thank sarah Miller, heather gold, and Margaret otzel, our editors at Yale university Press. our thanks as well to the Press’s anonymous readers and to our skillful copy editor, kip keller. ix