Which phrase best describes the character of the young narrator in the memoir "a cub pilot"

The phrase that best describes the character of the young narrator in the memoir "A Cub Pilot" is "I knew how an emancipated slave feels; for I was an emancipated slave myself."
A cub pilot is a "learner" pilot. The narrator was a cub pilot on a steamboat on the Missippi river. He was apprenticed to a pilot by the name of Brown. Brown treated him badly. One day the cub pilot's brother came up and gave Brown orders from the ship's captain. Brown did not hear the orders as he was deaf and expected the cub pilot to tell the captain that his brother had not given him his orders. The cub pilot gave an honest account of what had happened. Brown chased his brother out of the pilot house and picked up a lump of coal to throw at his brother. The cub pilot picked up a stool and hit Brown hard. He was then hauled before the captain of the steamboat for fighting. Instead of being sent to jail, as he expected, the captain did not send him to jail. He was glad that the cub pilot had hit Brown. In conclusion, the cub pilot was so relieved that he felt as though he was an emancipated slave.