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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Collected Articles by Frederick Douglass: bravery. My means of escape were provided for me by the very men
who were making laws to hold and bind me more securely in slavery.
It was the custom in the State of Maryland to require the free
colored people to have what were called free papers.
These instruments they were required to renew very often,
and by charging a fee for this writing, considerable sums from
time to time were collected by the State. In these papers the name,
age, color, height, and form of the freeman were described,
together with any scars or other marks upon his person which
could assist in his identification. This device in some measure
defeated itself--since more than one man could be found to answer
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