Lewis Latimer :: essays research papers

Lewis Latimer& vitamin A9&9&9Lewis Howard Latimer was innate(p) in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1848, six years after his parents, George and Rebecca Latimer, had hasten away from slavery in Virginia. They were determined to be free and that their children be born on free soil. Because of his light complexion, George was able to pose as a plantation owner with the darker-skinned Rebecca as his slave. Shortly after arriving in Boston, Massachusetts, he was recognized as a fugitive and jailed era his wife was taken to a safe hiding place. The arrest was protested sprucely by the community. Frederick Douglass, a former slave who had escaped to Massachusetts several(prenominal) years earlier, and abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison spoke forcefully against the arrest. There was a trial, and the attempts to recapture George and return him to Virginia caused considerable agitation in Boston. When the trial think ruled that Latimer chill out belonged to his Virginia o wner, an African-American minister paid $400 for his release. Although free, George was still extremely poor, working as a barber, paper-hanger and in other amusing jobs to support his wife, three sons, and one daughter. &9&9Lewis Latimer, the youngest child, attended grammar school and was an excellent student who loved to read and draw. around of his time, though, was spent working with his father, which was typical of children in the 19th century. In 1857, the independent Court ruled that a slave named Dred Scott could not be considered a free man although he had lived in a free state. George Latimer disappeared currently after the decision became known. Because he had no official papers to study he was a free man, he possibly feared for his safety and that of his family. &9&9With his father gone and his mother try to keep the family together, Lewis falsified his age and joined the U.S. Navy in 1864 when he was xvi years old. When the Civil War ended he was hon orably discharged and returned to Boston to seek employment. In 1868 he secured a job as an office boy in the Crosby and Gould patent law firm, a political party that specialized in helping inventors protect their patents. By closely law-abiding draftsmen at work and reading books on the subject, Latimer taught himself mechanical drawing. He in condition(p) to skillfully use the vital tools of the trade, such as T squares, triangles, compasses, and rulers, and master the art of drawing to scale.