circumstances born that he has a right to himself; that his arms, his feet, his
legs are his own, and that any one who would fain have or appropriate the
legs, arms or feet of another does that which God never willed. I disregard
all law with regard to Slavery. I believe that a Slaveholder has no right—at
least ought to have none, I believe with Wright that the Slaveholder has no
earthly right—I believe that he is not born of Heaven—he is no mortal—he
is a monster.

When I was about twelve years old I experienced religious feelings,¹The best account of Douglass’s religious conversion, which occurred when he was “not more than thirteen” years old, is found in Bondage and Freedom, 166-68. Douglass credits his first spiritual awakening to the preaching of a white Methodist minister named Hanson. Somewhat later a Baltimore black man named Charles Johnston taught Douglass “to pray, and what to pray for.” It was under Johnston’s tutelage that Douglass had his major conversion experience, but another pious black man of Baltimore identified only as “Uncle” or “Father” Lawson fanned the flames of Douglass’s early religious zeal. At one point Lawson even persuaded Douglass to consider becoming a preacher.
and the belief that I owned the[n] I regard now as the best—to cling to
everything good and forsake all evil, and I was taught not to steal, and that
servants should obey masters—that is one of the most especial of Southern
Christian principles. Now, in my Slave time I frequently experienced
hunger—my master, whose house was open to all the neighbors, especially
the ministers, and to whom he was very kind, was quite the reverse in the
kitchen. Just about this time I had my doctrine against stealing qualified,
and I will tell you how. I dared not to talk to any of the delinquency of eat-
ables on the plantation but to one, a confidant named Sandy Jiggins, and to
him I poured forth the pithy strains of an empty stomach—he was a religious,
kind soul, and in our conversations he said to me, “Why is it that you never
have any money?” “Why, how can I have money?” I answered, “I toil
from morning till night—from Monday morn till Saturday night and part of
the Sunday, and my master has all the gains of my toil.” “Well,” said
Sandy, “you must think for yourself.” At length, said he, “You must learn
to steal something to eat, you mustn’t be hungry—aye, I could steal a
pig—blessed be God—and shout hallelujah!” “How do you justify that,
Sandy?” asked I. “Well,” answered he, “see that pig?” “Yes.” “Well,
that pig is master’s property.” “Well?” “Well, you master’s property,
too.” “Yes.” “Well, then suppose you put some of that master’s property
into this—it would only, in the language of Gen. Jackson, be a question of
removal!”²Sandy Jenkins, a slave owned by William Groomes of Easton, Maryland, was hired out in 1834 on a Talbot County farm about four miles from St. Michaels in the general vicinity of Edward Covey's farm, where Douglass was working during the same period. Known among fellow bondsmen for his friendliness and skills as a conjurer and adviser, Jenkins furnished Douglass with a supposedly magical root to ward off further beatings from Covey. The two slaves renewed their friendship in 1835 while hired out on William Freeland's plantation, where they remained until Douglass and several cohorts were arrested for plotting to escape in 1836. Although never certain who betrayed them, Douglass and his comrades reluctantly suspected Jenkins, who had helped plan the escape only to withdraw at the last moment. Douglass later claims that he independently arrived at this rationale for stealing from his master during his residence with Thomas Auld at St. Michaels. Douglass uses the term “removal” to allude to President Andrew Jackson's policy of expelling the Creeks and Cherokees from the southeastern United States. Douglass, Bondage and Freedom, 189, 236-39, 264, 279-89, 297.—and, friends, ever after I had plenty of pig.