Second Preface Summary

This second preface to the Douglass narrative, following the Garrison preface, is actually a letter which was addressed to Frederick Douglass by Wendell Phillips, who was a famous anti-slavery orator (speaker) of the day. Phillips begins by pointing out that the public has mainly heard the story of slavery from slaveholders, and that it is good that they are finally hearing the truth from former slaves like Douglass.

Phillips then sidetracks into a description of the type of character required for someone to be an abolitionist. He mentions the fact that some people, before deciding to support the emancipation of slaves, wanted to be satisfied that the slaves would be productive if they were emancipated into society. They wanted to see the results of the "West Indies Experiment," which was an experiment to see if freed slaves were just as productive...