The Element of Humor in the Speeches of Frederick Douglass
Richard D. Bramante, Jr.
Research Seminar
Prof. Charles Carroll
© Copyright 1989-1990 by Richard D. Bramante, Jr. All Rights Reserved
Frederick Douglass' skill on the podium ranked him with the greatest of the nineteenth-century orators. Douglass was both commanding and eloquent, and he demanded attention and respect while speaking. He had the ability to present the essential facts and communicate ideas of a discussion in brief compass.1 Douglass also possessed the intangible qualities needed by all reform orators: nerve, will, courage, concentration, and perserverance.2 Douglass most often spoke on depressing and distressing topics. He told of human atrocities and indecencies. His speeches often illustrated the vices of violence, cruelty, drunkenness, rape, poverty, and a general sense of inhumanity. And yet, despite the gravity of his topics, what surprisingly and consistently stands out in Douglass' speeches is his ability to make his audience laugh. While on the platform, Douglass had the capability of becoming a comic, a mimic, and a satirist of the highest order. Douglass took advantage of what was contradictory and ludicrous in the arguments of his opponents; reductio ad absurdum was one of his most successful tactics.3 Douglass' "fine sense of humor and mimicry was a keen weapon, and he used it devastatingly."4 Few slaveholders or northern "doughfaces" escaped the acidic wit and sarcasm which shot from Douglass' words.
As Douglass gained fame as a first-class orator, his orations gained fame not only for their emotive power, but also for their jokes and anecdotal qualities. Subsequently, in the late 1840's, Douglass attempted to take a more serious stance in his speeches.5 He felt that humor and the anecdotal style was not appropriate for many of the lecture topics he was discussing. Also, Douglass' audiences began to change. The anti-slavery stump was replaced by the lyceum, and as a result, more complex speeches were expected.6 The abundance of material which Douglass had accumulated through personal trials and tribulations no longer provided enough concrete data for his orations.7 Douglass feared that he would become something of a clown or jester, and he took measures to guard against this development.8
Young Frederick Douglass was exposed to and influenced by a tradition of humor which was both unique and, at the time, well-defined in its purposes. Although the roots of Black American humor could be traced back to Africa, the "peculiar institution" of slavery, as well as the effects of White domination, did a great deal to alter and reinforce its uses and patterns. Concentrated efforts to block communication between large numbers of Black slaves were established early and practiced religiously by slave owners. Slaves were forced to develop a surrreptitious form of communication if they wished to preserve any of their values, attitudes, or other cultural characteristics. As a result, Black humor was "born of necessity under the stimulus of adversity."9 For the slave, humor became the primary mode of both communication and insubordination. It became a means to strike back at oppressors safely and effectively.10
The slave experience from which the Black man's humor developed produced its most distinctive quality: a sharpness of recognition and comment concerning the differences between the real world and the world as it ought to be.11 The ironies and injustices of enslaving an entire race of men in a country where "liberty and freedom reigned" did not go unnoticed.
While the dominant characteristics and purposes of Black humor have expanded and mutated over the years, during the period of Douglass' early life, Black humor served four main purposes: survival, escape, self-criticism, and conflict technique.
An enduring purpose of Black humor was as an aid for survival. Humor provided a system for facing the everyday harsh realities of enslavement while at the same time providing amechanism to cope with misfortune, faults, and feelings of inferiority.12
Humor also provided Blacks with a means of escape. It provided a release from the perpetual indignities and assertions of inferiority heaped upon Blacks by the Whites in power. "Inversion" was the main form of escape through humor. Through inversion, the roles of dominance and submission were reversed. This type of humor allowed the Black man to develop a psychological advantage over his oppressors.13 Stories and anecdotes in which Black slaves were able to outwit, manipulate, or humiliate their masters did little to change the physical relationship between master and slave, but they did provide both the mental and spiritual stabilization of a successful strategy coupled with the emotional uplift of a successful offensive strategy.14
While Black humor provided ample criticism and commentary on White faults, it simultaneously began developing the characteristic of self-criticism. The critical thrust of Black humor began to be aimed inward as well as outward. Self-criticism through humor provided two services. First, it helped to develop a sense of brotherhood and unity among the members of the Black community.15 Secondly, the ability to laugh at and evaluate oneself helped to dismiss and smother harshness which emanated from other external groups. Humor would exaggerate the stereotypes presented by others until they had reached ridiculous proportions, thereby rendering these stereotypes and slurs impotent -- useless as tools to be used for true racial aggression.16
Finally, Black humor served extensively as a source of conflict technique. Blacks traditionally turned to humor, satire, irony, and wit as a conflict device, for "subtle barbs often strike more telling blows than gratuitous insults or rational arguments."17 Humor also lent itself to such use because of the infinite array of topics it could encompass, and because it could also effectively conceal its malice.18 Freud's "principle of economy" applies to Black humor in this respect. The principle states that humor brings pleasure by disguising aggression from both internal and external censors. This aggression, which under normal circumstances must be suppressed, is released, thereby liberating the energy being used for suppression and inhibition for other, more constructive purposes.19 Blacks also felt that they received compensation by portraying Whites in a ridiculous light.20
It can easily be seen that Black humor, regardless of its form -- serio-comedy, parody, mimicry, satire, exaggeration, buffoonery, wit, or gallows humor-- can be best be characterized as being the humor of the rejected. Black humor was defensive, and its main duty was to ward off abuse: physical, mental, and spiritual. After emancipation, Black humor would begin a new stage of development and metamorphosis. The characteristics which were once so important would begin to be replaced by new forms. Blatant offensive humor began to replace camouflaged defensive humor, and humor as a form of escape became less and less important.
At this point, it may seem as though Frederick Douglass provides a faultless focal point for the study of Black humor. He appears to fit perfectly into the framework established for the development of Black humor. He was a slave, and was obviously forced to practice many of the techniques illustrated. Within slave society he would have been exposed to an immeasurable amount of Black folklore and humor, which would have left an indelible mark on any developing youngster. Douglass also lived a good many years after emancipation. In him the changes which took place in Black humor due to the abolition of slavery should be evident.
Douglass was not an ordinary man, however, and he does not fit quite so neatly into the framework developed. First of all, Douglass could read. This obviously allowed him to be influenced by far more than just Black oral tradition. But most important is the fact that, for much of his life, Douglass was a Black man existing in a White world. Much of the Black slave's humor would not be understood by Whites. Much Black humor would have been perceived as being macabre and completely without comic value. Douglass was attempting to convey the plight of slavery to his white audience, the last thing he wanted to do was to alienate them or confuse their emotions. If Douglass was to utilize humor effectively, he would have to develop humor which could be appreciated and understood by his White audiences. What we may have in Frederick Douglass is the first synthesis of Black and White humor. Whether this synthesis actually existed, and to what extent it existed will hopefully be determined by the conclusion of this paper.
"American humor" is a difficult term to define. This country's special history is responsible for its unique sense of humor. The pluralistic life for which America is famous has "furnished our humor with both its targets and weaponry."21 American humor rapidly realigned itself from being "corrective humor" (members of society unite against foolish deviators from custom and sense) into becoming "negative humor."22 The heroes of American humor became the non-conformist, the maladjusted, and the "hypercritical antagonists of social code and self-deception."23
Obviously, the conditions which bore and influenced American humor were quite different from the conditions which gave life and personality to the humor of the Black slave. The development of Black humor was a necessity for survival. The cruelty, anguish, and oppression which gave Black humor its own unique vitality did not exist for the majority of White Americans. Yet American humor also developed in a rapid and distinctive fashion. American humor needed some other catalyst in order to begin its process of growth and development. It found this catalyst in "the paradox of pluralistic American life."24 Because of their pluralism, Americans put a great deal of emphasis on conformity, status, and stability.25 Pretense, rhetoric, and sentimental shibboleth became more solidified in the United States than elsewhere, and much of the American mentality became based on simple cliches, proverbs, slogans, and formulas.26 Humor became the champion of reality, and set itself against the "nauseatingly prettified ideal of American life."27 Humor's ultimate function was to complicate and obliterate the idealized simple modes of American customary thought.28 Jesse Bier defines American humor:
Its principal spirit is either that of controlled hostility or mockery. It may parody any and all progressive logic and even, on occasion, all sense. But fundamentally it drives for the truth behind the big and little stultifying lies of our national life. Its blasphemy has been a counteractive both to our made up myths and to all the forces of obvious and subtle conformism. Its intrinsic effect of overcomplication is accentuated in a country where people tend to oversimplify and idealize experience and to rest upon formulas of conduct. It reinstates disaster as a principle of life, and is often fixed upon the grotesque for the same reason.29
American humor has developed several basic modes or characteristics in conjunction with its peculiar nature. One such characteristic is the preponderance of nonsense humor. The humor of these jokes lies in our frustrated expectations.30 Lectures Artemus Ward, "The highest part of this mountain...is at the top!" Rather than being rocketed to glory, the audience is thwarted. The audience laughs because of what the joke psychologically implies: nonadvancement in a country wholely committed to "progress" in all facets of life.31
A large volume of American humor is based on situations where simple events or tasks are mutated into unforeseeably complex monsters.32 Again, complication in the humor functions to mock and complicate our own naive modes of thought. An extremely important characteristic of American humor is the employment of exaggeration and tall tales. In this type of humor, the audience is relieved from all social, physical, and rational forms of existence. The audience is liberated from both consequence and judgement. No rules exist. This humor is commentary on the repressiveness (either subtle or evident) which perpetually manifests itself in American society.33
Another example of total freedom from restraints is evidenced in what may be called comic momentum. In this humor, the audience is both witness and victim "not of a sudden change of direction, or even surprise, but of the sheer momentum involved in going the whole distance."34 The audience can see where the joke is headed, but is unable to interfere or prevent the development of an absurd situation. This serves to remind us that we may not have as much control over our actions and destinies as we are lead to believe.
Although the slow-paced, wandering story is given its proper place in American humor. this type of rambling technique is not representative of our humor's general performance. American humor can be distinguished by its speed. Jokes are quick and to the point.35 There is not much emphasis placed on a long set up for a joke, or amusement for amusement's sake. American humor is very often a case of "ready, aim, fire!"
Another device consistently employed in American humor is literalism, often combined with reversalism. Frequently these devices serve in the employment of the previously discussed overcomplication.
Northern Montana Rancher: I hope the land I just bought on the Highline border is actually in the States.
Surveyor: We just checked. It is.
Rancher: Good! I can't stand the thought of one of those Canadian winters!36
Sometimes, what is comic, especially in America where all sorts of interests are at work to conceal reality and truth, is the simple statement of the truth, without the use of any colorful or hyperbolic embellishments. "If they do not suffer concealment or disguise, facts suffer a kind of inertia in the United States, and giving them a certain natural movement makes for humor."37
Along with speed, tangibility is the most distinctive feature of American humor. Our humor usually avoids the metaphysical and the intangible. A case in point: A stripped-down locomotive leased to the British during World War II was promptly dubbed "Austerity." Then some Americans arrived and took over the use of the locomotive. They renamed the engine "Gypsy Rose Lee."38
The targets of American humor are easily identified. Individuals displaying too much self-importance, self-interest, and hypocrisy are constant targets of barbs, jibes, and slurs. Soft-headedness, bigotry, complacency, and conformism also suffer at the hands of our humor. In general, religion, politics, and the fundamental "middle class mentality" of the country serve as our humor's most widespread and prevalent quarry.39
Now that a foundation has been constructed, it is possible to examine Douglass' actual use of humor. This poses several problems for a short paper such as this. First of all (and this is a classic case of understatement), Douglass was prolific. The man wrote, lectured, and corresponded with his associates for over fifty years. For this reason, the scope of this paper has been limited exclusively to the humor found in Douglass' speeches. Even taking this into consideration, any attempt to cite all of the humor found in Douglass' speeches would still cause this paper to run far beyond its prescribed limits. Therefore, content had to be scrutinized. This paper deals with "blocks" of related material. It attempts to point out general trends in Douglass' use of humor; but, let it not be misinterpreted that these blocks of trends were mutually exclusive. Certain stories are used by Douglass for years, but the concentration of that use is often not uniform. Therefore, such a story would be placed into a context where it is being used heavily, thus showing where Douglass' emphasis was lying during a particular period.
Two criteria were employed in selecting the examples used in this paper. The first was the frequency with which a certain joke or story occurred. In general, most of the examples cited in this paper were used by Douglass several times. Jokes or anecdotes used sparingly are, for the most part, eliminated from this discussion. Where multiple versions occur, the example given in the paper is utilized because it was either the most fully developed of the group, or in most circumstances, could be considered the most "standard" or "representative" of the lot.
The second criteria used in the selection process was the relative humor of an example. Some of Douglass' humor is timeless; its comedic content is as obvious today as it was a century ago. But some of Douglass' jokes have not aged so gracefully. A quip that drives an 1850 audience into a fit of hysteria may sail right over the head of a twentieth-century reader. This is not because the joke itself is no longer funny; rather, it is a case where Douglass' humor has transcended the reader's experience. One cannot laugh at what one does not understand. If the time was taken to explain a joke based in its historical context, the modern reader may find it just as amusing as the original audience; but in an effort to reduce length and avoid over-complication, this paper deals strictly with humor which should fall well within the modern-day reader's realm of comprehension.
Much of Douglass' early humor is based solely on mimicry and personal experience. Rather than constructing original jokes, Douglass is merely presenting material to which he had been exposed innumerable times. The humor here lies in the presentation of the truth. The ludicrous and unsound rationalizations of hypocritical Whites do not need much "doctoring" to make for effective humor. Douglass' skill as an actor and imitator are the only ingredients needed for successful comedy.
A favorite target was the method of preaching practiced by Southern religious leaders. In a speech delivered in Boston on January 28, 1842, Douglass shows the mockery which is being made out of Christianity. The sermon is divided; half is for the instruction of the Whites, and half is for the instruction of the Blacks.
They [Southern ministers] would take a text --say this: --"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." And this is the way they would apply it. They would explain it to mean, "slaveholders, do unto slaveholders what you would have them do unto you: "--and then looking impudently up to the slaves' gallery....looking high up to the poor colored drivers and the rest, and spreading his hands gracefully abroad, he says, "And you too, my friends, have souls of infinite value--souls that will live through endless happiness or misery in eternity. Oh, labor diligently to make your calling and election sure. Oh, receive into your souls these words of the holy apostle--"Servants be obedient unto your masters."40
Then, in a classic example of reversalism and nonsense logic, Douglass' preacher shows how God created the Black race specifically for the purpose of slavery:
Oh, consider the wonderful goodness of God! Look at your hard, horny hands, your strong muscular frames, and see how mercifully he has adapted you to the duties you are to fulfil! [W]hile to your masters, who have slender frames and long delicate fingers, he has given brilliant intellects, that they may do the thinking, while you do the working.41
In an address delivered in Cork, Ireland on October 14, 1845, Douglass expands on his illustration of Southern religious hypocrisy to include the so-called "Christian slaveholders."
They [Southern preachers] also tell the slaves there is no happiness but in obedience , and wherever you see poverty and misery, be sure it results from disobedience. In order to illustrate this they tell a story of a slave having been sent to work, and when his master came up, he found poor Sambo asleep. Picture the feelings, say they, of that pious master, his authority thrown off, and his work not done. The master then goes to the law and the testimony,....and Sambo is lashed so that he cannot work for a week after. "You servants," continued the preacher, "To what was this whipping traceable, to disobedience , and if you would not be whipped, and if you would bask in the sunshine of your master's favour, let me exhort you to obedience. You should also be grateful that God in his mercy brought you from Africa to this Christian land. They also tell the wretched slaves that God made them to do the working, and the white men the thinking. And such is the ignorance in which the slaves are held that some of them go home and say, "Me hear a good sermon today, de Minister make ebery thing so clear, white man above a Nigger any day."42
Douglass does not stop by merely mocking Southern religion; he attacks those who preach it as well. Douglass illustrates the logic used by the preachers who refuse to pray for the slaves:
No; I cannot pray for the slave, I should give offence to that rich member of my church who contributes largely to my salary. I may drive him from the church, and may be the means of destroying his soul. Is it not better that I should preach such doctrines as would retain him in the church, and thereby, by enunciating great principles, be the means eventually--mark, eventually--of bringing him to a sense of his duty in this matter? I cannot mention the slave.43
Douglass displays his utter disdain for Southern ministers in his reply to George Bradburn's comment that "abolitionists are too severe upon us poor ministers; we have to take a great deal; you do not seem to remember it is necessary we should live." Applying comic literalism, Douglass dryly responds: "I do not admit any such necessity."44
Another favorite anecdote used by Douglass to convey a message is his story of travelling by night. In this narrative he shows the utter lunacy and irrationality of prejudice against color. Douglass had left the home of Mason Tappan when dusk fell. With the arrival of nighttime, several gentlemen boarded the carriage in which Douglass had been travelling. Never in his life had Douglass been treated with "so much deference and respect; it was nothing but Sir, Sir, Sir." The travelers also considered Douglass to be "some person quite above the common order." Douglass remembers wishing at the time that, for the sake of the slave, it became perpetual night in America. But with the coming of dawn, the passengers learned of their companion's true identity and called out in utter amazement--"God! It's a Nigger!" The passengers were quite horrified that they had been so familiar with a Black man; subsequently, Douglass' status sunk very visibly in their estimation.45
These two illustrations used by Douglass are not exclusively humorous. There is a great deal of light shed on what it meant to be a Black man in America during the mid-nineteenth century. They are also scathing commentaries on White hypocrisies and irrationalities. But at times, Douglass did seem to employ "humor for humor's sake." There were no real "morals" to these stories--Douglass simply seemed to be enjoying the activity of pointing out some of the more ridiculous things he had seen White people do. These cases seem to be examples of an important characteristic of early Black humor: raising one's self-esteem by degrading the esteem of another person.
A favorite anecdote of this type concerns an obnoxious little man who had once threatened to throw Douglass off of a ship they were sailing on. The tiny man (who himself was too feeble to cause Douglass any harm) proposed to be "one of an indefinite number" of men who had considered pitching Douglass into the sea. Douglass commented satirically that this boastful action was very "prudent, cautious, and calculating." When confronted by an Irishman who asks whether or not the tiny man had considered the possibility of two playing at such a game, the latter silenced himself and timidly slunk away.46 Douglass' portrayal gives this character the appearance of some sort of pitiful creature, rather than the appearance of a human being. Rather than strike fear into Douglass, the man succeeds in nothing but in becoming an inconsequential pest, an object to be cast away and laughed at.
Douglass also points out White narrow-mindedness and ignorance. When a young girl tells that she had a dream about Heaven, she is asked whether or not there were any Black people who resided there. "Oh I wouldn't know," was her reply, "I didn't go into the kitchen."47
Of course, Douglass could also use humor to compliment Whites he felt were deserving of praise. Douglass praises his treatment at the hands of the Scottish people in the same speech where he totally degrades the American man who threatens to toss him overboard. He relates his message by first describing his experiences in America. He attempted to enter a zoo in Boston, and was told--"We don't allow niggers in here. He went to a church in New Bedford, but was told--"We don't allow niggers in here." He went to the museum and the lyceum and received the same reply. But when he arrived in Scotland, says Douglass, his treatment was so different and courteous that he "sometimes suspected his own identity."48 Of course, this is a clear-cut case of comic exaggeration, but it successfully illustrates the variation in treatment received by Blacks in the different countries of the world.
However, the Scottish were not able to totally escape Douglass' acerbic humor. The Free Church of Scotland was a hated institution, one which Douglass railed against frequently. Douglass often accused the preachers in the Free Church of worshipping the almighty dollar.49 Ironically, the cause of religious freedom in Scotland was to be advanced through profits gained from the inhumanities and barbarities of American slavery. American slaveholders would "donate" a slave to the church. The slave would be sold at an auction, with the proceeds going to the church for the advancement of religious freedom. The absurdity of the entire concept in seen as Douglass describes the twinkling eyes of a Free church preacher as the bids for a young slave climb higher and higher.50 Freedom was a divine right, to be obtained at all costs, even if it meant that the freedom and rights of another group would have to be taken away and extinguished.
Douglass attacks the cowardous of Free Church minister William Alexander, who advised his congregation not to go and hear Douglass speak. However, if they did go to hear the abolitionist speak, they should immediately return to their minister so that he could explain what was meant by the speech. Says Douglass:
The coward, could he not come himself? This reminds me of the story of an American colonel who addressed his soldiers before going to the field --"Soldiers," says he, "fight nobly, fight for your country, fight bravely, fight gloriously; but if the enemy come and appear too many for you, I advise you by all means to retreat; and as for myself, as I am rather lame, I had better be going just now."51
Douglass attacks Free Churchman John Duncan in a speech delivered September 23, 1846 in Paisley, Scotland. Duncan had previously stood for the cause of emancipation; he rejected the idea of dealing with slaveholders in any way, shape, or form. Duncan said that he could not sit down at the same table and eat with slaveholders, for it would choke him. However, when it became evident that a great deal of financial gain was to be derived through an association with slaveholders, Dr. Duncan retracted his prior statements and began singing a different song. Says Douglass sarcastically: "But the doctor has had his organs expanded. Now he can not only sit down at a common meal, but sit down at the Lord's table with the slaveholders of America...I won't ask Dr. Duncan what has changed his heart, but what has changed his stomach?"52
Despite this commentary, Douglass reserved most of his blasts for targets occupying the domestic front. An argument which consistently brought out some of Douglass' most potent sarcasm was the declaration that "slaveholders had no control over their situation, and were just as much the victim of the institution of slavery as the slaves themselves were." Douglass hated these asinine justifications of slavery, and he would mimic in a droll manner that "slaveholders were involved in circumstances beyond their control," that they "could not be held solely responsible for the evils of slavery when they could not help themselves," and that they would "gladly release their slaves if only the laws of the country would change."53 Douglass exposes the irrationality of the concept with the following argument:
They say "Distinction ought to be made, for while slavery may be very bad, a sin and a crime, a violation of the law of God, and an outrage on the rights of man, yet the slaveholder may be a good and excellent Christian, and that in him we may embrace a type and standing representative of Christ." While they would denounce theft, they would spare the thief; while they would denounce gambling, they would spare the gambler; while they would denounce the dice, they would spare the sharper; for a distinction should be made between the character of the system and the character of the men whom circumstances have connected therewith.54
The nonsense of the argument becomes readily apparent when attacked by the wit and sarcasm of Frederick Douglass. Douglass exposes more of the absurd and nonsensical in his explanation of why it is illegal for slaves to run away from their masters.
They said that he had stolen himself from his master; that the government of the United States had solemnly guaranteed to his master a right of property in his body; and that, in the face of that solemn obligation--in the face of that solemn enactment of the sovereign people of the United States--he had run off with himself. And they were calling upon him to come back, and telling him that his master was terribly enraged with him, and considered that no punishment would be too bad for him, because he had committed the awful theft of stealing his own body, and his own hands, and of appropriating them to himself...55
A final illustration which Douglass uses to expose the nonsense of the idea that it is somehow morally or intrinsically proper that Whites own Blacks is his description of his former master's actions following Douglass' escape from bondage. Douglass' former master, Thomas Auld, transferred the right of ownership of Douglass to his brother Hugh Auld after Douglass had already escaped and was travelling in the United Kingdom! "He has actually made his brother a present of the body and bones of Frederick Douglass. His brother must feel exceedingly rich today. He must feel himself as wealthy as though he had received a title deed to the planet Mars. He has given every proof of his meanness in giving me away running. He ought to have given me to his brother when I should have been of some service to him, but he has made him a present of a person 3,000 miles off."56 Auld was attempting to give the impression that he was a kind and excellent gentleman, but Douglass exposes him as a stubborn and unrealistic fool who is unable to accept the fact that his former slave has bettered him, and that he can no longer control the life or actions of this free man.
Up until this time (about 1846) much of what is humorous in Douglass' speeches is not of his own creation. Often the humor lies in the actual situation as it is presented and described; it does not lie in the actual words delivered by the orator. Douglass relied on his past experiences coupled with his masterful powers of acting and mimicry to illustrate what was humorous (due to its illogicality) in other people's positions or beliefs. When it manifests itself, the humor in these early speeches seems to be a constant underlying force. The humor is present from the start, with Douglass building upon it and adding to it until the audience can no longer tolerate the tension and burst out in laughter. After 1846, there seems to be a change beginning to evolve in Douglass' use of humor. The jokes begin to come quicker. Rather than taking time to explore a comedic situation inherent in an experience, Douglass begins to become more of a master of the "quick barb." It seems as if the "one-liner" begins to replace the longer, drawn-out humorous descriptions which were previously employed. Douglass begins to abandon the anecdotes that he had collected during his lifetime, and his humor begins to become more involved with the present. The topics of Southern preaching and the Free church are, for the most part, put on the back-burner while issues such as the American Colonization Society and the Fugitive Slave Law begin to rise to prominence.
This metamorphosis of humor can be easily seen in the actual physical appearance of this paper. Up to this point, the average length for a quote used to illustrate Douglass' humor has been about eight lines long.57 Comparing this figure to the quotes and examples which follow will reveal a striking dissimilarity.
Back in England, Douglass uses the tactic of reversalism to refute arguments presented by his critics that the reason for Douglass' greatness and eloquence lies in the fact that he is one-half White. Mimicking in an Irish voice: "Is that little man only half a negro: then what would a whole one be?"58
In a later speech, he strips the definition of slavery down to its barest and most basic essentials. Commenting on the fact that he has never seen laborers volunteer to work for free, he proclaims: "In the absence of the cash, there must be the lash."59
Realizing the dichotomy of the term "Christian slaveholders," Douglass creates some phrases which parallel the hypocritical expression: "White-blackbirds"60 and "sober-drunkards."61
Douglass tells the world not to fear military action by the United States, even if such action is threatened, for America has a force of some 3,000,000 peacemakers. America knows it cannot send her men abroad, for if it does, the slave, unattached to state or country, is left untended. So "when our statesmen get warm, why these three million keep cool."62 Maintaining his message that Blacks do not hold America or its institutions sacred, Douglass responds to the allegations that he should be hanged as a traitor: "Two things are necessary to make a traitor. One is he shall have a country."63 This is an amusing statement due to the ambiguity and technicality involved; but at the same time, it is a sad and distressing comment on a fragile, crumbling nation.
Douglass angrily comments on the innumerable devices used by the enemies of the abolitionists. These enemies are "as prolific of schemes as Egypt was of frogs."64
It had long been Douglass' contention that America suffered from too much religion and not enough humanity. The nation bastardized its religion so that it seemed to sanction slavery and all its evils.65
In this connection I am always forcibly reminded of the incomparable illustration of the principle of brotherly love in the New Testament. When the stranger fell among thieves and was left alone on the highway to perish, there came along three persons, severally representing the classes in society. First came the priest -- evidently all Priest and no humanity -- who passed entirely on "the other side," and his successors appear to have remained on the other side to this time. Then came another, a Deacon, probably; he seemed half man and half priest, for he took a middle course, and seemed wavering; but, unfortunately, the Priest predominated, and he followed "in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor" on the other side! But, my friends, there next came a man, nothing but a MAN; yes a regular human!; and he went straight up to the suffering stranger, bound up his wounds, and attended to all his wants.66
Douglass showed the loss of priorities and common sense as being masked by religion. It remained illegal for slaves to learn to read and write, and despite this, there were certain "Bible groups" in the country who spent time, money, and energy distributing Bibles to the slaves. "There is a class of men who seem to believe that if a man should fall overboard into the sea with a Bible in his pocket it would be hardly possible for him to drown. Mr. Bibb told me in conversation, that he believed if the slave had the Bible, the Lord would help him to read it."67 This type of thought prevented any real action against slavery from taking place. Douglass did not limit himself to accusing Whites of this unrealistic approach to eliminating the slave problem--he attacked Black ministers as well. "The text 'Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and its righteousness,' has been grossly perverted by the ignorant colored clergy, so that people wait for God to help them. It is a ridiculous and absurd notion to expect God to deliver us from bondage. We must elevate ourselves by our own efforts."68
What America needed was realistic, honest men. But there were so few of this type evident that America as a nation did not know what to do when confronted by such a man. "A rich man they respect; a poor man despise; a learned man revere; a criminal hang; but they have no where to put an honest man."69
This is a rich period for Douglass' humor as he diversifies and comments on a great multitude of topics. Yet, it can truly be said that two subjects dominate his thinking and use of humor during this period. The first is the ridicule of Northerners who return runaway slaves to their Southern masters (this ties in with the Fugitive Slave Law after its establishment in 1850), and the second is his commentary on the American Colonization Society and its president, Henry Clay.
Douglass begins commenting on Northern hypocrisy in 1847. The Fugitive Slave Law is still three years off, but Douglass is already railing against Northern treatment of escaped slaves.
What is the actual position of those Northern States? If they are not actual slaveholders, they stand around the slave system and support it. They say to the slaveholder, "We have a sentiment against--we have a feeling opposed to-- we have an abhorrence of--slavery. We would not hold slaves ourselves, and we are most sincerely opposed to slavery; but, still, if your negroes run away from you to us, we will return them to you. And, while you can make the slaves believe that we will return them, why, of course, they will not run away into our states; and, then, if they should attempt to gain their freedom by force, why, we will bring down upon them the whole civil, military, and naval power of the nation and crush again into subjection. While we make them believe that we will do this, we give them the most complete evidence that we will, by our votes in congress and in the senate, by our religious assemblies, our synods, presbyteries and conferences, by our individual votes, by our deadly hate and deep prejudice against the coloured man, even when he is free, we will, by all these evidences, give you the means of convincing the slave, that, if he does attempt to gain his freedom, we will kill him. But still, notwithstanding this, let it be clearly understood that we hate slavery."70
Douglass continues to taunt the Northerners who allow and accept the continuance of slavery: "To be sure you have the right to vote, which is like what I once heard of a certain boy, who said he was going to live with his Uncle Robert, 'and when I go there,' said he, 'I am going to do just as I please--if Uncle Robert will let me!' The Northern people are going to do just as they please--if the slaveholders will let them!"71
Arguably, it is in his dealings with the American Colonization society that Douglass is his most acerbic, humorous, emotional, and compelling. Douglass takes offense of the "we know what's best for you" attitude assumed by the ACS. As president of the society, Henry Clay was often singled out by Douglass as a particular villain. "He [Clay] says he does not wish to coerce us, but thinks we had better go! What right has he to tell us to go? We have as much right to stay here as he....I want to say to our white friends that we colored folks have had the under careful consideration, and have decided to stay! I want to say to any colonization friends here, that they may give their minds no further uneasiness on our account, for our minds are made up."72 That the Black population of the United States was never consulted about emigration back to Africa seems to be the greatest cause of Douglass' ire. "Now are we not an ungrateful class of people?--that after all the trouble that our friends have been [through] to bring us from Africa and then to get up a scheme to send us back again, having done it Caudle-like, for our own good and never consulting their own, that we shall be ungrateful as to meet here for the purpose of denouncing that movement! Well, we are unthankful--ain't we?"73
In a later speech, Douglass shows how much he respects the intellectual foundation upon which the ACS rests: "Once upon a time the immortal Shakespeare said that a thing would die when its brains were out. But it is not so with this Colonization Society. It seems to have nine or ten lives."74
Douglass showed how the ideas of the ACS permeated throughout all levels of American society. Douglass speaks of an Irishman freshly arrived in New York; his ideas regarding slavery are already fixed. "He conversed with me on the subject of slavery. He had scarcely shed the first feathers of 'ould Ireland' and he had the brougue still on his lip. And that man, newly imported to this country, gravely told me that it was his opinion that the coloured people in this country could never rise here, and ought to go to Africa."75 Here is, for all intents and purposes, a foreigner telling an American-born, free man that he should leave his country and "go back to where he belongs." Ironic.
Finally, for good measure, Douglass sends a few "zingers" in the direction of Henry Clay. It is Douglass' predilection to comment on Clay's unfulfilled aspirations to gain a certain national office. At speech in Syracuse, Douglass was being hissed at for his critical comments concerning president Zachary Taylor. Douglass believes that his comments about Clay will not draw as many hisses because "he has not the reins of government in his hand, and no office to give to those who may be disposed to hiss in his favour."76 In a later speech, Douglass displays masterful use of the unadulterated truth to lead into a discussion about the ACS: "I want to say a word about the Colonization Society, of which Henry Clay is President. He is President of nothing else."77
From this point onward, Douglass' use of humor begins to wane. To be sure, it never completely disappears, but it seems as if Douglass begins to pick a few, select areas in which he will unleash his famed wit. It is quite possible that Douglass began to feel that humor was obscuring the true messages which he was attempting to convey. Douglass hints at this as he concludes a speech given in Troy, New York: "I am thankful for your kindness in listening to me, and beg you not to forget, in the playfulness of my last remarks, the sober earnestness of the first."78
The humor of this period is not dominated by any great topic. Also, the tone of the humor during this period seems to be more negative than the humor found in earlier times. A few examples will suffice to illustrate this point.
How should citizens deal with the Fugitive Slave Law? "The only way to make the Fugitive Slave Law a dead letter; is to make a few dead slave-catchers. There is no need to kill them either --shoot them in the legs, and send them to the South living epistles of the free gospel preached here at the North."79
Pointing out White hypocrisy was a characteristic of his humor which Douglass would never abandon.
[They] tell you that the slaves wont fight, and in the next [breath] they tell you that the only effects of the [Emancipation] Proclamation is to make the slaves cut their masters' throats and stir up insurrections all over the South. The same men tell you that the negroes are lazy and good for nothing, and in the next breath tell you that they will all come North and the labor away from the laboring white men here. In one breath they tell you that the negro can never learn the military art, and in the next they tell you that there is danger that white men may be outranked by colored men. I may be pardoned if I leave these objections to their own contradictions and absurdities. They are like the Kilkenny cats, and there is fair probability of their reaching the same result.80
By 1863, Douglass admits to having "great faith....in the virtue of the people of the North," but he admits to having more faith "in the persistent villainy of the South."81
Finally, in what may be his last great piece of humor and satire, Douglass confronts those who oppose Black suffrage on the basis that Blacks would "contaminate" the "pure" body politic.
I took my stand near the little hole through which the body politic put its votes. And first among the mob, I saw Ignorance, unable to read its vote, asking me to read it, by the way, depositing its vote in the body politic. Next I saw a man stepping up to the body politic, casting in his vote, having a black eye, and another one ready to be blacked, having been engaged in a street fight. I saw, again, Pat, fresh from the Emerald Isle, with the delightful brougue peculiar to him, stepping up--not walking, but leaning upon the arms of two of his friends, unable to stand, passing into the body politic! I came to the conclusion that this body politic was, after all, not quite so pure a body as the representation of its friends would lead us to believe.82
Subsequently, Douglass' us of humor would continue to decline. He had been trying to limit his use of the device since the late 1840's, but it was obviously a slow process, and humor was never eliminated from his work. Douglass' growing reputation as an orator had brought changes in his lecturing habits. "In speeches commemorating American Independence, dedicating monuments and cemeteries, eulogizing reformers, and depicting the unity of the races, Douglass had to take more material from books and pamphlets. The rich storehouse of his personal experience no longer provided enough data for him."83 The character of Douglass' audience was also changing. He received his first invitation to speak to a lyceum in 1854, and gradually, this would replace the antislavery stump as his chief platform for public oratory. As the lyceum or ceremony would demand more "thoughtful and complex speeches on less familiar and comfortable topics," Douglass began composing speeches especially for these learned audiences.84 Douglass felt that these audiences provided him with the opportunity to demonstrate the intellectual capabilities of Blacks, and he did not want to come across as a clown or comic.85
With the conclusion of the Civil War and institutional slavery, Douglass' speaking agenda lessened, and he was able to spend more time writing and reflecting on his lecture topics. "His life and thus his lecturing habits became more organized, less frantic, and more respectable."86 Gone were the days of the extemporaneous address. Douglass began to write out his speeches (often laboring over them for weeks), which were read before ceremonial audiences.87 This "formalization" of his craft signaled and end to the use of humor as an important element in Douglass' work.
Was Douglass' humor truly a synthesis of the respective Black/White comic traditions? Of course, it had to be, to some extent. The man spent his formative years as a Black slave, immersed in Black culture. But he spent most of his life as a free man living in what was, basically, the White man's world. This reality was far removed from the typical experience of the American Black at this time. It could be argued that the delivery of Douglass' humor was Black, but that its tone was White. The mimicry, metaphor, intonation, and emotion of Douglass' delivery is, in all likelihood, remnants from his slave experience. Douglass' early humor, which tended to take the form of a fable, was also obviously a legacy of his exposure to Black culture. But the tone of Douglass' humor much more closely resembles White humor. There existed a certain optimistic quality to Black humor. As was previously discussed, this characteristic functioned to help Blacks deal with the mental and spiritual agony which slavery produced. White humor was mostly negative. It was the absolute dichotomy of Black humor. Black humor was attempting to disguise reality so that its beneficiaries could achieve some sort of peace in a cruel world, even if this peace lasted for only brief segments of time. White humor was trying to force reality on people. It wanted to cut through the cozy myths of the population and present the truth. This was the humor of Frederick Douglass. While Black humor was serving as a means to disguise malice, White humor was serving as a means to illustrate it. This was the humor of Frederick Douglass.
In the final analysis, what category Douglass' humor neatly fits into isn't terribly important. What is important is the fact that humor was used. Douglass spent fifty years of his life confronting people with the truth. He lived to cut through what was absurd, obscene, and untrue in society's psyche, and to clear the air so that an accurate, unhindered evaluation of the situation could be made. Douglass employed several means to achieve this. He used emotional pleas; he used intellectual pleas; he used moral pleas; he used examples from his personal experience; he used quotations from poets, literary figures, and the Bible; and--quite effectively--he used humor.
Notes
The following abbreviation has been used:
FDP: John W. Blassingame, ed., The Frederick Douglass Papers: Series One: Speeches, Debates and Interviews, 4 vols. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1979).
1FDP, 1:xxiv.
2FDP, 1:xxv.
3FDP, 1:xxii.
4Philip S. Foner, ed., The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, 4 vols. (New York: International Publishers), 1:50.
5FDP, 1:lxii.
6FDP, 1:lxiii-lxiv.
7FDP, 1:lxiv.
8FDP, 1:lxiii.
9Robert Brake, "The Lion Act is Over: Passive/Aggressive Patterns of Communication in American Negro Humor," Journal of Popular Culture 9 (1975): 550.
10Brake, "The Lion Act is Over," p.550.
11Brake, "The Lion Act is Over," p.551.
12Brake, "The Lion Act is Over," p.552.
13Lawrence W. Levine, Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), p.310.
14Richard K. Barksdale, "Black America and the Mask of Comedy," in The Comic Imagination in American Literature, ed. Louis D. Rubin, Jr. (New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1973), p.351.
15Brake, "The Lion Act is Over," p.552.
16Levine, Black Culture, p.335.
17Brake, "The Lion Act is Over," p. 552.
18Brake, "The Lion Act is Over," p.553.
19Levine, Black Culture, p.321.
20Brake, "The Lion Act is Over," p.553.
21Jesse Bier, The Rise and Fall of American Humor (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968), p.1.
22Bier, American Humor, p.9.
23Bier, American Humor, p.9.
24Bier, American Humor, p.1.
25Bier, American Humor, p.1.
26Bier, American Humor, pp.2-3.
27Bier, American Humor, p.3.
28Bier, American Humor, p.5.
29Bier, American Humor, p.30.
30Bier, American Humor, p.2.
31Bier, American Humor, p.2.
32Bier, American Humor, p.3.
33Bier, American Humor, p.6.
34Bier, American Humor, p.6.
35Bier, American Humor, p.17.
36Bier, American Humor, p.19.
37Bier, American Humor, p.7.
38Bier, American Humor, p.20.
39Bier, American Humor, p.21.
40Frederick Douglass, "The Southern Style of Preaching to Slaves," address delivered on 1 January 1842 in Boston, MA. FDP, 1:16-17.
41Douglass, "Southern Style Preaching." FDP, 1:17.
42Frederick Douglass, "I am Here to Spread Light on American Slavery," address delivered on 14 October 1845 in Cork, Ireland. FDP, 1:43.
43Frederick Douglass, "American Slavery, American Religion, and the Free Church of Scotland," address delivered on 22 May 1846 in London, England. FDP, 1:287.
44Douglass, "American Slavery, American Religion." FDP, 1:288.
45Frederick Douglass, "The Slanderous Charge of Negro Inferiority," address on 11 December 1845 in Belfast, Ireland. FDP, 1:101.
46Frederick Douglass, "An Account of American Slavery," address delivered on 15 January 1846 in Glasgow, Scotland. FDP, 1:141.
47Frederick Douglass, "American Prejudice and Southern Religion," address delivered on 4 November 1841 in Hingham, MA. FDP, 1:11.
48Douglass, "Account of Slavery." FDP, 1:143.
49Frederick Douglass, "Charges and Defense of the Free Church," address delivered on 10 March 1846 in Dundee, Scotland. FDP, 1:178.
50Douglass, "Charges and Defense." FDP, 1:180.
51Frederick Douglass, "America's Compromise with Slavery and the Abolitionists Work," address delivered on 6 April 1846 in Paisley, Scotland. FDP, 1:214.
52Frederick Douglass, "The General Assembly of the Free Church," address delivered on 23 September 1846 in Paisley, Scotland. FDP, 1:427-8.
53Frederick Douglass, "The Relation of the Free Church to the Slave Church," address delivered on 20 March 1846 in Paisley, Scotland. FDP, 1:192-3.
54Frederick Douglass, "The Free Church Alliance with Man-Stealers," address delivered on 21 April 1846 in Glasgow, Scotland. FDP, 1:237.
55Frederick Douglass, "Slavery as it Now Exists in the United States," address delivered on 25 August 1846 in Bristol, England. FDP, 1:349.
56Frederick Douglass, "Emancipation is an Individual, a National, and an International Responsibility," address delivered on 18 May 1846 in London, England. FDP, 1:252.
57This calculation is based on a standard line 65 characters in length. In this way, long, indented quotes are not given more "weight." The figure was derived using direct quotes only; paraphrases were not included in the calculation.
58Frederick Douglass, "The Skin Aristocracy in America," address delivered on 2 February 1847 in Coventry, England. FDP, 2:7.
59Frederick Douglass, "American Slavery is America's Disgrace," delivered on 25 March 1847 in Sheffield, England. FDP, 2:11.
60Frederick Douglass, "Farewell to the British People," address delivered on 3 March 1847 in London, England. FDP, 2:42.
61Frederick Douglass, "Baptists, Congregationalists, the Free Church, and Slavery," address delivered on 23 December 1845 in Belfast, Ireland. FDP, 1:109.
62Douglass, "Farewell to British." FDP, 2:46.
63Frederick Douglass, "Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country," address delivered on 24 September 1847 in Syracuse, NY. FDP, 2:102.
64Frederick Douglass, "Slavery, The Slumbering Volcano," address delivered on 23 April 1849 in New York, NY. FDP, 2:149.
65Frederick Douglass, "Too Much Religion, Too Little Humanity," address delivered on 9 May 1849 in New York, NY. FDP, 2:180.
66Frederick Douglass, "Antislavery Principles and Antislavery Acts," address delivered on 27 April 1852 in Cincinnati, Ohio. FDP, 2:344.
67Douglass, "Too Much Religion." FDP, 2:184.
68Frederick Douglass, "Self Help," address delivered on 7 May 1849 in New York, NY. FDP, 2:170.
69Frederick Douglass, "Is the Constitution Pro-Slavery?," remarks delivered on 17 January 1850 in Syracuse, NY. FDP, 2:225.
70Douglass, "Farewell to the British." FDP, 2:24.
71Frederick Douglass, "The Triumphs and the Challenges of the Abolitionist Crusade," address delivered on 9 May 1848 in New York, NY. FDP, 2:126.
72Douglass, "Triumphs and Challenges." FDP, 2:124-5.
73Frederick Douglass, "Colonizationist Measures," address delivered on 24 April 1849 in New York, NY. FDP, 2:159.
74Douglass, "Colonizationist Measures." FDP, 2:163.
75Douglass, "Colonizationist Measures." FDP, 2:164-5.
76Douglass, "Too Much Religion." FDP, 2:191.
77Frederick Douglass, "The Colonizationist Revival," address delivered on 31 May 1849 in Boston, MA. FDP, 2:206.
78Frederick Douglass, "The Encroachments of the Slave Power," address delivered on 5 September 1855 in Troy NY. FDP, 3:106.
79Frederick Douglass, "The Legacy of John Brown," address delivered on 3 December 1860 in Boston, MA. FDP, 3:419.
80Frederick Douglass, "The Proclamation and a Negro Army," address delivered on 6 February 1863 in New York, NY. FDP, 3:564-5.
81Douglass, "The Proclamation." FDP, 3:567.
82Frederick Douglass, "Emancipation, Racism, and the Work Before Us," address delivered on 4 December 1863 in Philadelphia, PA. FDP, 3:604.
83FDP, 1:lxiii-lxiv.
84FDP, 1:lxiv.
85FDP, 1:lxiii-lxiv.
86FDP, 1:lxiv.
87FDP, 1:lxiv-lxv.
Sources
Primary Sources
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_______. Mark Twain: Social Critic. New York: International Publishers, 1958.
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Articles
Alford, Terry, ed. " 'Formerly a Slave:' Frederick Douglass Comes to Lanesborough." New England Quarterly 60 (January 1987): 86-88.
Arnez, Nancy Levi, and Anthony, Clara B. "Contemporary Negro Humor as Social Satire." Phylon 29 (April 1968): 339-346.
Brake, Robert. "The Lion Act is Over: Passive/Aggressive Patterns of Communication in American Negro Humor." Journal of Popular Culture 9 (Winter 1975): 549-560.
Clark, John Henrik. "The Origin and Growth of Afro-American Literature." Journal of Human Relations 16 (March 1968): 368-384.
Coleman, Larry G. "Black Comic Performances in the African Diaspora: A Comparison of the Comedy of Richard Pryor and Paul-Keens Douglas." Journal of Black Studies 15 (January 1984): 67-78.
Cook, William W. "Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke: Traditions of Afro-American Satire." Journal of Ethnic Studies 13 (January 1985): 109-134.
Dance, Daryl C. "Black American Humor." American Humor: An Interdisiplinary Newsletter 4 (Spring 1977): 3-4.
Dresser, Norine. "Metamorphosis of the Humor of the Black Man." New York Folklore Quarterly 26 (September 1970): 216-228.
Gara, Larry. "The Professional Fugitive in the Abolition Movement." Wisconsin Magazine of History 48 (March 1965): 196-204.
Hughes, Langston. "Jokes Negroes Tell On Themselves." Negro Digest 9 (June 1951): 21-25.
Monteiro, George. "Religious and Scriptural Parodies." New York Folklore 2 (February-March 1976): 150-166.
Rinder, Irwin. "Note on Humor as an Index of Minority Group Morale." Phylon 26 (Summer 1965): 117-121.
Sklar, Robert. "Humor in America." New Zealand Journal of History 4 (February 1970): 107-119.