Douglas

Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, near Hillsborough.

He doesn’t know for sure of his age, he has seen no proof and his master

will not inform him. Most masters prefer for their slaves to stay

ignorant. He believes that he was around twenty-seven and twenty-eight

when he began writing his narrative - he overheard his master say he was

about seventeen years of age during 1835. His mother, Harriet Bailey,

was separated from him when he was an infant and she died when he was

seven years old. Frederickй?ҐжЄљ father was a white man who could have been

his master but he never found out.

Education was of utmost importance in his life. He received his first

lesson while living with Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Sophia Auld, Frederickй?ҐжЄљ

"mistress", was very humane to him and spent time teaching him the A, B,

Cй?ҐжЄљ. After he mastered this, she assisted him in spelling three and

four letter words. At this point in his lesson Mr. Auld encountered

what his wife was doing for Frederick and forbid her to continue. He

believed that "if you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell" and

continuing with "learning would spoil the best nigger in the world".

The masters felt that an ignorant slave formed a choice slave and any

beneficial learning would damage the slave and therefore be futile to

his master. His next step on the road to success was during his seven

years living with Master Hughй?ҐжЄљ family. Frederick would make friends

with as many white boys as he possibly could on the street. His new

friends would be transformed into teachers. When he could, Frederick

carried bread on him as a means of trade to the famished kids for

knowledge. He would also carry a book anytime he had an errand to run.

The errand would be completed quickly, allowing extra study time. When

Frederick was working in Durgin and Baileyй?ҐжЄљ ship-yard he would notice

timber marked with various letters. He soon discovered how the letters

matched the type of wood and the names of these letters. Any boy he met

that could write he would challenge them to a writing contest.

Frederick would use the letters he recently learned and told the child

to challenge that. He then copied the Italics in Websterй?ҐжЄљ Spelling

Book until he knew them well. All this hard work and years of practice

gave Frederick the knowledge to write. After his relocation to Mr.

Freeland, who was the owner of two slaves, Frederick devoted his Sundays

teaching these two and other slaves how to read.

Frederick heard the word abolitionists a few times but it wasnй?ҐжЄ› for a

while until he found out what it meant. If a slave succeeded in

escaping from his Master or performing a radical action such as burning

a barn or killing his Master, it was considered to be a form of

abolition. One day while running an errand, Frederick ran into two

Irishmen hard at work. Frederick assisted the Irishmen and soon after

they asked if he was a slave. The men then advised Frederick to run

away to the north to find friends and freedom. Ever since this

encounter he has dreamed of the day he could safely escape. An attempt

to carry out his dreams surfaced during his stay with Master Thomas. He

did not attempt to escape, however he regrets not doing so since the

chances of succeeding are ten times greater from the city than from the

country.

Anthony, one of Frederickй?ҐжЄљ two masters, was not a humane slaveholder.

Frederick was awakened habitually by the sounds of his own aunt being

whipped repeatedly because she was caught away for the evening with a

man. Slaves, when unhappy, sing songs to help drown their sorrow.

Frederick would often sing for this purpose, and not to express his

happiness as some slaves also do. The men and women slaves received

eight pounds of pork or fish and one bushel of corn meal monthly. On a

yearly basis, they received very little along the lines of clothing.

The children unable to work in the field were given two shirts per

year. If they happen to wear out, the children would have to