The Exchange Rooms, Moss Street
The Exchange Rooms no longer exist but the building itself is still standing. In Douglass' time it would have been a theatre.
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Here, Douglass told a heart-breaking story of married couple being separated and bought by different slaveholders.
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Many Scots were disgraced that slave-money was being retained to build churches on their free hills and sang out in support of their freedom.
Click Here to listen to a clip of one of the songs
'The Free Church Must Send Back the Money!'
'The wife was sold to one man and the husband to another, and the husband looked imploringly to the man who had bought his wife. But the wife was to go one way and he another. The husband asked to shake hands with the wife for the last time. He attempted to do it. He was struck on the head, and when let go, he fell down dead. His heart was broken!'
Frederick Douglass
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Unfortunately, even though many people supported Douglass and joined his cry for change, there were some who still supported slavery.
'I have come to the conclusion, however unpopular it may be with those deluded by Douglass and his constituents, that the slave proprietors of the Southern States are incalculably more the friends of civilisation … than they are.' Anonymous
Glossary
Slaveholder / slave proprietor – Someone who owns people as their own property.
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Constituents - Usually, a constituent is a citizen who is represented by someone who they vote for. As Douglass wasn't an elected official, in this case, it mean people who have chosen to follow and support him.
Click on the Walking Tour Map button below to access the Frederick Douglass Walking Tour Google Map and explore some of the places Frederick Douglass spoke in Paisley.
Image Credits
The Exchange Rooms, Moss Street – By © Laura Hamilton.
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