0:00:00.135,0:00:01.230 - [David] Hey, readers. 0:00:01.230,0:00:03.453 This video is about historical context. 0:00:03.453,0:00:05.970 Let's get into what that is. 0:00:05.970,0:00:08.130 Have you ever heard a joke from a friend 0:00:08.130,0:00:10.028 and you didn't find it very[br]funny and your friend goes, 0:00:10.028,0:00:11.820 "Ah, you had to be there."? 0:00:11.820,0:00:13.609 That's historical context. 0:00:13.609,0:00:15.630 We can't be there, right? 0:00:15.630,0:00:16.463 It's over. 0:00:16.463,0:00:18.600 You can't get there from here, pilgrim. 0:00:18.600,0:00:20.550 Studying historical context 0:00:20.550,0:00:22.950 allows us to get the joke, 0:00:22.950,0:00:23.783 as it were. 0:00:23.783,0:00:25.920 It allows us to understand the environment 0:00:25.920,0:00:28.080 that a writer was operating in. 0:00:28.080,0:00:30.990 The political, social, cultural, 0:00:30.990,0:00:33.615 geographical factors that[br]all play into how or why 0:00:33.615,0:00:37.650 someone might be writing[br]at a particular period. 0:00:37.650,0:00:39.912 It's like asking your[br]friend to explain the joke. 0:00:39.912,0:00:43.756 Historical context helps you[br]better understand the text. 0:00:43.756,0:00:45.840 So, with that in mind, 0:00:45.840,0:00:48.120 I'm going to read you an excerpt from 0:00:48.120,0:00:50.730 the Autobiography of Frederick Douglass 0:00:50.730,0:00:53.887 before giving you any historical context. 0:00:53.887,0:00:56.730 "I have never approved[br]the very public manner 0:00:56.730,0:00:58.530 in which some of our Western friends 0:00:58.530,0:01:01.470 have conducted what they call[br]the Underground Railroad, 0:01:01.470,0:01:02.580 but which, I think, 0:01:02.580,0:01:05.880 by their open declarations has[br]been made most emphatically 0:01:05.880,0:01:08.490 the upperground railroad. 0:01:08.490,0:01:11.209 I honor those good men and[br]women for their noble daring. 0:01:11.209,0:01:12.690 Upon the other hand, 0:01:12.690,0:01:15.690 I see and feel assured that[br]those open declarations 0:01:15.690,0:01:19.170 are a positive evil to[br]the slaves remaining 0:01:19.170,0:01:20.820 who are seeking to escape. 0:01:20.820,0:01:23.010 They do nothing towards[br]enlightening the slave, 0:01:23.010,0:01:25.830 whilst they do much towards[br]enlightening the master. 0:01:25.830,0:01:27.946 They stimulate him to greater watchfulness 0:01:27.946,0:01:31.380 and enhance his power[br]to capture his slave." 0:01:31.380,0:01:32.286 So, let's get into this. 0:01:32.286,0:01:34.648 If you are unfamiliar[br]with Frederick Douglass, 0:01:34.648,0:01:36.988 it is my privilege to present him to you, 0:01:36.988,0:01:40.200 and to give you a little[br]context on his life. 0:01:40.200,0:01:42.336 One of America's premier[br]orators and writers 0:01:42.336,0:01:44.820 was the honorable Mr. Douglass. 0:01:44.820,0:01:48.516 The excerpt I just read[br]came from his 1845 memoir, 0:01:48.516,0:01:51.360 "Narrative of the Life[br]of Frederick Douglass, 0:01:51.360,0:01:53.460 an American Slave". 0:01:53.460,0:01:55.620 Here's some context on Frederick Douglass. 0:01:55.620,0:01:58.110 He grew up enslaved in Maryland. 0:01:58.110,0:02:01.680 In 1838, he escaped and[br]traveled first to New York, 0:02:01.680,0:02:05.100 and then to Massachusetts,[br]where slavery was illegal. 0:02:05.100,0:02:08.370 This helps me understand[br]where Douglass is coming from. 0:02:08.370,0:02:10.816 He escaped slavery himself. 0:02:10.816,0:02:13.500 The network of people, free Black folks, 0:02:13.500,0:02:15.210 white abolitionists, Quakers, 0:02:15.210,0:02:17.700 and others who helped[br]ferry enslaved people 0:02:17.700,0:02:19.230 along secret routes to freedom, 0:02:19.230,0:02:21.477 were known collectively as[br]the Underground Railroad, 0:02:21.477,0:02:25.650 and it's important to know[br]that Douglass did not himself 0:02:25.650,0:02:27.794 use this network to escape slavery. 0:02:27.794,0:02:29.633 with only a handful of friends, 0:02:29.633,0:02:33.390 courage and unbelievable good luck, 0:02:33.390,0:02:35.820 Douglass escaped enslavement. 0:02:35.820,0:02:38.270 So, what is he getting at in this passage? 0:02:38.270,0:02:41.580 What's he saying with all this[br]upperground railroad stuff, 0:02:41.580,0:02:43.850 and how does the context of his life, 0:02:43.850,0:02:47.070 how does that context help[br]us answer these questions? 0:02:47.070,0:02:48.660 Because it kind of sounds like he's saying 0:02:48.660,0:02:51.990 he doesn't like the[br]Underground Railroad, right? 0:02:51.990,0:02:53.040 He has never approved of it, 0:02:53.040,0:02:55.054 which if we know anything about Douglass, 0:02:55.054,0:02:57.600 sounds like it doesn't make sense. 0:02:57.600,0:03:00.197 Why would a man who slavery himself 0:03:00.197,0:03:03.300 dislike the Underground Railroad? 0:03:03.300,0:03:05.190 It's not that he doesn't[br]like the route to freedom, 0:03:05.190,0:03:06.023 how could he not? 0:03:06.023,0:03:07.749 And he says as much, 0:03:07.749,0:03:10.230 quote, "I honor those good men and women 0:03:10.230,0:03:11.670 for their noble daring", 0:03:11.670,0:03:14.929 but he doesn't like[br]their open declarations 0:03:14.929,0:03:16.110 of what they're doing. 0:03:16.110,0:03:18.900 He wants it to remain secret. 0:03:18.900,0:03:21.990 Douglass is approaching this[br]from a position of empathy 0:03:21.990,0:03:25.237 with those people who are still enslaved. 0:03:25.237,0:03:27.690 "The open discussion of[br]the Underground Railroad 0:03:27.690,0:03:30.367 endangers everyone", he argues. 0:03:30.367,0:03:32.100 "Rather than enlightening the slave, 0:03:32.100,0:03:34.080 it enlightens the master", he says here. 0:03:34.080,0:03:36.420 It educates him and makes him aware. 0:03:36.420,0:03:37.890 If the enslaver is aware 0:03:37.890,0:03:40.020 that there is a network of abolitionists 0:03:40.020,0:03:42.240 ferrying people out of bondage, 0:03:42.240,0:03:45.870 that's valuable information[br]to the enslaver. 0:03:45.870,0:03:47.504 That's information that Douglass 0:03:47.504,0:03:50.490 doesn't want that person to have. 0:03:50.490,0:03:52.314 He himself doesn't give details 0:03:52.314,0:03:55.050 about how he escaped in his autobiography. 0:03:55.050,0:03:57.060 He wouldn't come clean[br]about how he did that 0:03:57.060,0:03:59.245 until well after the end of the Civil War, 0:03:59.245,0:04:01.387 when slavery was illegal everywhere, 0:04:01.387,0:04:03.390 and he was out of danger. 0:04:03.390,0:04:05.069 Knowing that Douglass was also wary 0:04:05.069,0:04:08.070 about giving away too many[br]details of his own escape, 0:04:08.070,0:04:09.467 because legally, in 1845, 0:04:09.467,0:04:13.066 the family that enslaved him[br]could have just hired somebody 0:04:13.066,0:04:15.289 to kidnap him back into slavery. 0:04:15.289,0:04:17.760 Knowing that gives us the context 0:04:17.760,0:04:19.729 to better understand his discomfort 0:04:19.729,0:04:22.369 with what he calls the[br]upperground railroad, 0:04:22.369,0:04:26.700 the open and advertised effort[br]to liberate enslaved people. 0:04:26.700,0:04:29.970 He wants to maximize the[br]number of people freed, 0:04:29.970,0:04:33.210 which means keeping the[br]Underground Railroad a secret. 0:04:33.210,0:04:35.280 So, I hope the context I provided 0:04:35.280,0:04:38.100 informed your understanding[br]of the passage. 0:04:38.100,0:04:40.800 Remember, when reading[br]a historical text, ask, 0:04:40.800,0:04:43.650 who was writing, what was[br]happening while they were writing, 0:04:43.650,0:04:46.500 and why might they have said[br]or written what they did? 0:04:46.500,0:04:48.600 Those details can help[br]grow your understanding, 0:04:48.600,0:04:52.890 not just of historical texts,[br]but of contemporary ones too. 0:04:52.890,0:04:53.889 Thanks for watching. 0:04:53.889,0:04:55.344 You can learn anything. 0:04:55.344,0:04:56.403 David out.