In the first of these, "A Description of New England" (1616) by John Smith, Captain John Smith, one of the first British settlers of early 17th century America, vividly describes the rich potential of New England, for those who have come here from Great Britain who, like himself, are willing to work hard now and sacrifice today so that their futures here will include freedom; prosperity; and personal autonomy. In the second work, "The Speech of Moses Bon Saam" (1735), the author, a former (escaped) Caribbean slave and now a rebel leader against white slaveholders in the Caribbean, encourages his fellow blacks who are still slaves to take risks a

nd make sacrifices for the possibility of future personal freedom. In the third piece, Prefaces to Narrative of the Life of a Slave by Frederick Douglass, the power of Douglass himself as a public speaker and American Abolitionist leader, is examined from several perspectives: toward the common Abolitionist end that all American slaves, like Douglass himself, might eventually be free.

Further, in his Preface to Douglass's autobiography, William Lloyd Garrison, a leading and influential white Abolitionist of Douglass's time, describes hearing Douglass speak at an anti-slavery convention in Nantucket in 1841, and being very impressed with Douglass's obvious potential as a speaker against slavery, based on first-hand experience. This suggests, as Garrison implies, the potential power, within other, similar, venues, of Douglass, himself a black man and a former slave, as a public speaker against the institution of slavery. From there, it is easy to see how these various versions of Douglass's Autobiography of which the editor speaks emerged, and for which diverse audiences and purposes within the overall Abolitionist movement itself of the time.

The author of "A Description of New England" (1616), Captain John Smith was an English explorer best known for founding Jamestown, the first English settlement of the New World. Smith and about a hundred other Englishmen hired by the Virginia Company an English business entity whose goal was to eventually profit from the natural resources of America and businesses and industries the company could establish in America went about the difficult business of settling Virginia in the early 17th century. This excerpt from Smith's "Description of New England" extols t hard work; independence; freedom, and accomplishment through forging an independent destiny for oneself in the New World. Smith encourages his fellow Englishmen to go about the work of building, planting, fishing, and settling the new area, as a way of creating their own destinies, rather than sitting back in England waiting to inherit property, or simply being idle. As he asks rhetorically in this piece, for example "... who would live at home idly (or think in himself any worth to live) only to eat, drink, and sleep, and so die?"

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bon Saam, Douglass's Autobiography, Description England, World Smith, Abolitionist Douglass's, Bon Saam's, Abolitionist American, Wendell Phillips, Company English, American Revolutionary, bon saam, moses bon, description england, moses bon saam, john smith, douglass's autobiography, speech moses bon, speech moses, description england 1616, england 1616, bon saam 1735, saam 1735, 1616 john, england 1616 john, personal freedom,
Approximate Word count = 1524
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)