Such skills, he reasoned, would make Frederick "unfit. At first, he was treated with great kindness by Sophia Auld her husband, Hugh, however, eventually disapproved of Sophia's attempts to teach Frederick how to read and write. When he was about eight years old, Frederick was sent to Baltimore to work for Hugh Auld, Captain Anthony's relative by marriage. In one of the most poignant episodes at the beginning of the Narrative, Douglass recalls being treated like an animal and having to live in the same breeding pens as the plantation's dogs and pigs. Frederick was initially raised by his grandparents, Betsey and Isaac Bailey, and later by Captain Anthony, who owned two or three farms and about thirty slaves he was a clerk and superintendent for Colonel Lloyd's plantation.
She was assigned to work in a field many miles away and was not allowed to stay with her son, seeing him only furtively during rare visits at night. He recalls meeting his mother only four or five times. He didn't know who his father was, but, near the beginning of the Narrative, Douglass suggests that his white master may have been his father. Had there not been literate slaves who wrote about their sufferings, our knowledge and understanding of this shameful period of America's past might well be different.ĭouglass was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in Tuckahoe, Maryland, the child of Harriet Bailey, a literate slave. Produced in an era before visual and audio electronic recordings were possible, Douglass' Narrative is an important testimony. Douglass uses a matter-of-fact voice, logical analysis, and a dignified tone, but no one can read his account without feeling emotionally sickened by the horrors of slavery. Published in 1845, sixteen years before the Civil War began, the Narrative describes Douglass' life from early childhood until his escape from slavery in 1838.
His Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is a moving account of the courage of one man's struggle against the injustice of antebellum slavery. He accomplished all of these feats without any formal education. Born into slavery around 1818, he eventually escaped and became a respected American diplomat, a counselor to four presidents, a highly regarded orator, and an influential writer.
He spoke out against oppression throughout America and abroad, and his struggle for freedom, self-discovery, and identity stands as a testament for all time, for all people. Douglass, however, is an inspiration to more than just African Americans. His influence can be seen in the politics and writings of almost all major African-American writers, from Richard Wright to Maya Angelou. Frederick Douglass will forever remain one of the most important figures in America's struggle for civil rights and racial equality.
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