Posted on by

Preface – Letter from Wendell Phillips

Text of Book

Preface – Letter from Wendell Phillips , page 1

Preface – Letter from Wendell Phillips , page 2

Preface – Letter from Wendell Phillips , page 3

Questions

1) In the book, we will ask you lots of questions about what happens to Frederick Douglass and the information he shares. In the Preface, we will only ask questions about vocabulary.

First of all, were there any words you did not understand in this letter?
(You can list them here.)

2) Wendell Phillips writes, "We have been left long enough to gather the character of slavery from the involuntary evidence of the masters."

What does he mean by "character" in this context?

3) In the same quote you just reread (also copied below), what does "evidence" mean?

"We have been left long enough to gather the character of slavery from the involuntary evidence of the masters."

4) Wendell Phillips states, "In connection with this, there is one circumstance which makes your recollections peculiarly valuable, and renders your early insight the more remarkable."

What does he mean by "circumstance" in this context?

5) In the same quote you just reread (copied below), what is another word that means the same as "recollections"?

"In connection with this, there is one circumstance which makes your recollections peculiarly valuable, and renders your early insight the more remarkable."

6) In the quote below, what does "vague" mean?

"With the exception of a vague description, so I continued, till the other day, when you read me your memoirs."

7) Wendell Phillips states, "You, perhaps, may tell your story in safety, endeared as you are to so many warm hearts by rare gifts, and a still rarer devotion of them to the service of others."

What does he mean by "rare" in this context?

8) In the same quote (below), what is another word that means the same as "service"?

"You, perhaps, may tell your story in safety, endeared as you are to so many warm hearts by rare gifts, and a still rarer devotion of them to the service of others."