The Heroic Slave

“The Heroic Slave” by Frederick Douglass was originally published in 1853. It is Douglass’s only work of fiction but is based on a real-life uprising in 1841 among the enslaved people aboard the ship named the Creole. “The Heroic Slave” is an abolitionist text and a companion piece to Douglass’s works of nonfiction, such as his famous autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In “The Heroic Slave,” Douglass explores the themes of The Pursuit of Liberty, Presenting Models of White Allyship, and The Horrors of Enslavement. 

This guide refers to the 2019 Dover Thrift paperback.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of physical abuse, emotional abuse, death, sexual violence, and racism. In particular, “The Heroic Slave” depicts anti-Black rhetoric and violence during enslavement.

Language Note: The guide only reproduces the word “slave” in direct quotations from the source text. 

Frederick Douglass’s only short story, “The Heroic Slave,” is divided into four parts. Each part begins with a few quoted lines of poetry (also known as an epigraph). The story is mostly told in the third person, but the narrator occasionally uses the first-person plural, specifically the pronoun “our,” to include the reader.

Part 1

After the epigraph of poetry written by Douglass, the narrator begins by describing the setting of Virginia. It is the home state of many politicians, whose stories are known, but the narrator focuses on a lesser-known story of a Black leader of a revolt of enslaved people: Madison Washington. Mr. Listwell, a white man, mostly describes the perspective of this hero. 

Listwell travels through Virginia in the spring of 1835. He stops to let his horse drink from a brook near a forest and hears a man, later revealed to be Madison, talking to himself. Madison laments the conditions that he is forced to live under as an enslaved person. He is considered subhuman, worse than a snake, by enslavers. He longs for freedom and vows to obtain his liberty by escaping. Listwell comes a little closer and can see Madison but doesn’t want to disturb him.

Madison begins speaking again, unaware that he is being watched. He denounces enslavement’s cruelties, prays to God for help escaping, and talks through his plan, repeating his desire for freedom. Then, Madison worries about leaving his wife, Susan, behind and vows to come back and rescue her.

After Madison leaves, Listwell asserts that he is now an abolitionist. He plans to become active in abolitionist actions when he returns to his home in Ohio.

Part 2

This part begins with a quote from Henry VI, Part 2 by William Shakespeare. Five years have passed; it is now 1840. Listwell is in Ohio with his wife, Mrs. Listwell. They sit by the fire while their children sleep. Their watchdog alerts them to the fact that someone is approaching their house, and it turns out to be Madison.

Madison is heading to Canada and needs a place to rest for the night. Listwell offers him the guest room, and Mrs. Listwell cooks dinner for Madison. Madison is shocked at this hospitality from white people. Listwell confesses that he overheard Madison talking in the woods five years earlier. Madison explains the circumstances that caused him to lament. That day, Madison was whipped, and his wounds were covered in brine because he had stayed later at the mill than his enslaver liked. When the overseer and other white people went to church, Madison went to the woods to pray.

Listwell asks Madison to recount what happened in the intervening years. A few weeks after Listwell saw Madison in Virginia, Madison left his wife and tried to head North. However, he got lost and ended up back at the plantation. Because he escaped, he was hesitant to enter the enslaved quarters and almost spoke to a woman, thinking she was his wife, Susan. Eventually, he found Susan, and they arranged to meet in the woods at midnight. She brought him food and other necessities. He lived in a nearby cave and swamps. Susan met him once a week for five years.

One day, the woods where Madison was living caught on fire. He was traumatized by the fire and ran from it with the animals, fleeing the forest. When Listwell asks Madison to explain what happened after the fire, Madison admits that he stole food to live. Listwell condones this action, mentioning that his mind was changed about committing theft to live by an abolitionist named Gerrit Smith. Then, Madison continues his story. He ended up in another forest and hid in the trees as a group of enslaved Black men started cutting the trees down. They did not reach Madison’s tree before ending their work for the day. One worker remained behind and prayed to be freed from enslavement. Madison came out of the tree, gave the old man his only dollar, and asked him to buy some food.

The old man came back, followed by 14 men. They believed that the man stole the money, but he continued to tell them that he was given the money. The group of men whipped the enslaved person whom Madison had entrusted with his money, and he was afraid to intervene because he was outnumbered. The old man was released, and the men searched the woods, but they didn’t find Madison. He stole from a hen roost for his dinner. Mrs. Listwell is concerned that he ate the food raw, but Madison shows her the tinderbox that he used to cook his food.

Listwell is determined to help Madison get to Canada and invites him to spend the night before they leave the next night. Madison is amazed at the comfortable bed and considers sleeping on the floor. The next day, Listwell gives Madison winter clothes and money. That night, they travel to Cleveland, Ohio, in Listwell’s wagon. At the lake, Listwell finds an abolitionist working on a boat and gets Madison a passage to Canada on it. Madison thanks Listwell, who feels “a joy and gratification which kn[ows] no bounds” after helping free Madison (23).

A few days later, Listwell receives a letter from Madison. He is safe in Windsor, Canada, which the British, not America, owns. He blesses Listwell and thanks him again for his help.

Part 3

This part begins with a quote from Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. It is set in a tavern that is about 15 miles outside of Richmond, Virginia. The regulars at this establishment are a good source of gossip. Listwell arrives and speaks with a “Loafer” named Wilkes. Wilkes informs Listwell about an enslaved auction in Richmond the following day. Listwell is happy to escape to his room and has his dinner brought up. However, he can hear the conversation in the tavern below.

The men debate whether Listwell is going to purchase enslaved people at the auction. Wilkes believes that Listwell will, and another man thinks that Listwell is a Northerner and opposed to enslavement. Eventually, the people in the tavern lose interest in the subject, talk about other things, and listen to stories. Listwell tries to sleep and wishes that he were back in Ohio. The overheard conversation causes him to think that he should not dissuade Wilkes but let him continue to think that Listwell is an enslaver. The need for protection outweighs the need to do what is right, and this makes Listwell feel morally corrupt as an abolitionist. He plans to repent and believes that God is more forgiving than the men downstairs.

In the morning, Listwell goes to the enslaved auction, the first he’s seen, and is horrified. He spots Madison among the enslaved people and talks to him. Madison asks Listwell to come back when the men holding him are at breakfast. As Listwell leaves, Madison assures the other enslaved people that Listwell is their friend. They regard him as a leader and believe this claim. The dealers antagonize a little girl for crying and then head to breakfast.

When Listwell returns, Madison thanks him again for his help in Ohio. Madison explains that he got to Canada and tried to buy his wife, but the process was taking too long. So, he went back to Virginia for her. Madison’s old enslaver saw him attempt to free Susan and shot at them. He hit Susan, and she died, but Madison was only wounded. He tried to escape, but the enslaver and his men captured Madison. He was chained up, put on display as a warning to other enslaved people, whipped, and sold to the enslaved gang that he is currently in.

In the present moment, Listwell laments that Madison went back, but Madison says that he couldn’t leave his wife behind. Listwell asks if he can buy and free Madison, but Madison says he can’t; part of his punishment is to be sold to a Southerner. Listwell gives Madison some money and promises to return. Back at the tavern, Listwell tells Wilkes that he’s interested in buying a specific enslaved person and tips Wilkes. Listwell leaves the tavern, goes to a hardware store, and buys three files. Then, he gives the files to Madison as he is boarding a boat. Listwell watches as it sets sail and prays that Madison is successful in using the files to free himself and others. Listwell is happy to leave and return to the North.

Part 4

This part also begins with an epigraph from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, but an epigraph from Thomas Moore precedes it. The narrator begins by contrasting how American chattel enslavement is condoned while the same people condemn other forms of enslavement. Then, the narrator describes a new setting: the Marine Coffee-house in Richmond. Here, sailors converge and talk about Madison.

Jack Williams, a sailor, is offended by the white crew on the Creole enslavement ship being unable to suppress an uprising of enslaved people. He argues that he would have handled the situation better because enslaved people are “cowards.” Another sailor, Tom Grant, was the first mate of the Creole and argues that enslaved people are not cowards, especially when at sea. Jack admits that there is some difference between how enslaved people act on land and on the sea but continues to argue that he could have stopped the uprising. Tom says that he’ll never work on an enslavement ship again and condemns the institution of enslavement.

Jack calls Tom an abolitionist, which upsets Tom. Jack clarifies his statement: He meant that Tom’s conscience is what kept him from suppressing the uprising. Then, Jack argues that Tom is still superior as a white man. Tom vehemently disagrees, saying that the enslaved people were courageous and skillful. He questions Jack’s knowledge of the uprising. Jack says that the enslaved people took over the ship and redirected it toward a British colony where enslavement is illegal. The enslaved people killed two white men in the process: the captain and the enslaver. Jack questions how it could have happened.

Tom describes what happened on the ship. He begins by complimenting Madison’s valor. Madison befriended the officers on the ship, was considered the leader of the enslaved, and was well-spoken. Tom explains that Madison had three files. One night, Madison freed himself and 18 other enslaved people with the files. Tom saw Madison peek his head out to look at the deck before coming up with the other enslaved people. The fight that followed knocked Tom unconscious. When he regained consciousness, Captain Clarke and Mr. Jameson were dead, the white men hid in the rigging, and the freed enslaved people took control of the ship.

Tom tried to rally the white men to fight and called Madison a murderer. Madison said that he could have killed Tom while he was unconscious, but he didn’t. Madison only killed the captain and first mate to attain his liberty. He noted that the white men’s fathers killed men while fighting for their liberty from British rule in the American Revolution. Next, Madison addressed the sailors, assuring them that if they simply sailed to Nassau, they would not be harmed. Tom commanded the men to stay in the rigging, and a Black man started to attack Tom.

Madison interfered, saving Tom’s life, and said that he would blow up the ship if it started toward an enslavement port instead of a British port where enslaved people would be free. The sailors came down from the rigging. A squall rolled in, the bodies of the captain and first mate were washed overboard, and the sailors became occupied with staying aboard and alive in the storm. When the storm started to pass, Madison said that the “ocean, if not the land, [wa]s free” (48); the laws regarding enslavement didn’t apply while in the ocean. Tom was moved by this and the comparison to the American Revolution.

The ship sailed into Nassau two hours after the storm. There, Black soldiers boarded the ship and declared that people were not property. Under the supervision of these soldiers, the enslaved people all left the ship freely, marching and cheering for Madison.