Town Hall

 
Town Hall Meeting

A town hall meeting is when government officials and citizens come together to discuss whatever the issue within that community may be. There was a town hall meeting held on Wednesday, September 14, 2022. One of the people that participated in this town hall meeting was Frederick Douglass. You may wonder who is Frederick Douglass? A brief summary, Frederick Douglass was a slave who fought really hard and eventually became a free man. But, he was also an author, leader of the abolitionist movement, and a well known advocate for anti-slavery.

Based on the information given above one of the things that we know about Frederick Douglass is that he was a well known advocate for anti-slavery. He was such a big advocate for anti-slavery because he was once a slave his self. And he knew what it felt like to be seen as property and not as a human. Within this town hall meeting one of the things that Douglass states was, "I was born in 1818. I do not know the exact date I was born because for people like me they didn't keep up with those records. Some may say what do you mean for people like me? People like me who were once slaves. I was looked at as property and not as a human." 

Within this town hall meeting Frederick Douglass expresses what his dream is. His dream is for slavery to be abolished permanently in America. To become a free man. For all slaves to be seen as human and not as property. For all men to be created equal.

Douglass shared his journey to becoming a free man. He talked about how his journey to becoming a free man wasn't easy. The first time he tried to escape slavery he was let down by a fellow slave that he knew and he was caught. He was then sent to jail. But, on September 3,1838 Douglass planned to escape slavery once again and thankfully on this day he became a free man. According to Local Government, "On September 3, 1838, abolitionist, journalist, author, and human rights advocate Frederick Douglass made his dramatic escape from slavery--traveling north by train and boat--from Baltimore, through Delaware, to Philadelphia." But, he also expressed that becoming a free man was just one step in accomplishing his dreams. 

Douglass believed that all slaves should be freed. But, specifically black male slaves should be freed first and this is something that Douglass stressed within the town hall meeting. Another point that Douglass stressed within this town hall meeting was the important role the Emancipation Proclamation played in abolishing slavery in America. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued during the time of the civil war under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. The purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation was to free all slaves during the time of the civil war. This was issued on January 1,1863. This was just another step to Douglass accomplishing some of his dreams.

He also shared in this town hall meeting how he became an author to an amazing book entitled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. According to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is the memoir of former slave, writer, and famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Published in 1845, the narrative is hailed as an important abolitionist text, which was a type of polemic from the 19th century that called for the end (or abolition) of slavery in the United States. The story, told from the first-person perspective, describes Douglass' life as a slave before he is freed." Douglass expressed in this meeting that within his book how he truly exposes the horror of slavery and the things he had to go through as a slave.

Based on the information given we can see that within this town hall meeting that was held on Wednesday, September 14,2022 a lot was said and one of the people that had a lot to say was Frederick Douglass. And within this meeting he truly expressed his concerns he had.