I look upon my departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation as one of the most interesting events of my life. It is possible, and even quite probable, that but for the mere circumstance of being removed from that plantation to Baltimore, I should have to-day, instead of being here seated by my own table, in the enjoyment of freedom and the happiness of home, writing this Narrative, been confined in the galling chains of slavery. Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity. . . . I regarded the selection of myself as being somewhat remarkable. There were a number of slave children that might have been sent from the plantation to Baltimore. There were those younger, those older, and those of the same age. I was chosen from among them all, and was the first, last, and only choice. —Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass What does Douglass conclude when he reflects on the past in this passage? Going to Baltimore may have been the reason he went on to write his narrative. Deciding to go to Baltimore was the best choice he ever made. Other children were as fortunate as he was. He was the clear choice to go to Baltimore.