The escape party consists of douglass henry and john

The escape party consists of Douglass, Henry and John Harris, Henry Bailey,
and Charles Roberts. Sandy Jenkins initially intends to accompany them, but
eventually decides to remain. They plan to canoe up the Chesapeake Bay on
the Saturday before Easter. Douglass writes travel passes, signed by their
master, for each of them.
On the morning of their planned escape, Douglass works in the fields as usual.
He soon feels overcome by a sense that their plan has been betrayed.
Douglass tells Sandy Jenkins of his fear, and Sandy feels the same way. During
breakfast, William Hamilton and several other men arrive at the house. They
seize and tie Douglass and the rest of the escape party. The men transport
their prisoners to Thomas Auld’s house. On the way, Douglass and the others
speak together, agreeing to destroy their written passes and admit nothing.
At Thomas Auld’s, Douglass and the others learn that someone has betrayed
them. Douglass writes that they immediately knew who the betrayer was, but
he does not reveal who they suspected. The men are placed in jail. Slave
traders arrive to taunt them and size them up as though to sell them. At the
end of the Easter holidays, all the slaves but Douglass are taken home.
Douglass remains in jail because he is identified as the leader and instigator.
He begins to despair. At first, Thomas Auld announces his intent to send
Douglass to Alabama. Then Auld suddenly changes his mind and sends
Douglass back to Baltimore with Hugh Auld.
In Baltimore, Hugh Auld apprentices Douglass to a shipbuilder named William
Gardner. Douglass is to learn the trade of ship caulking. Because Gardner’s
shipyard is struggling to meet a deadline, however, Douglass becomes a
helping hand for seventy-five different carpenters and learns no new skill. The
carpenters -constantly summon and yell at Douglass, who cannot help them all
at once. Tensions at the shipyard increase when the white carpenters suddenly
strike to protest the free black carpenters who Gardner has hired. Gardner
agrees to fire the free black carpenters. As an apprentice who is not free,
Douglass continues working at Gardner’s, but he endures severe physical
intimidation from the white apprentices.
One day, four white apprentices attack Douglass at the shipyard and nearly
destroy his left eye. He starts to fight back but decides against it, as lynch law
dictates that any black man who hits a white man may be killed. Instead,
Douglass complains to Hugh Auld, who becomes surprisingly indignant on
Douglass’s behalf. Auld takes Douglass with him to see a lawyer, but the

#1 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself 7
lawyer informs them that no warrant may be issued without the testimony of a
white man.