Fredrick Douglass

4 Pages 886 Words

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1817, in Tuckahoe, Maryland. Because his slave mother, Harriet Bailey, used to call him her "little valentine," he adopted February 14th as his birthday, not knowing the exact date of his birth. He knew very little about his mother since she was employed as a field hand on a plantation some twelve miles away, and she died when he was eight or nine years old. Douglass knew even less about his father, but it was rumored that he was the son of his White slave master, Aaron Anthony.

Young Frederick was grossly mistreated. To keep from starving, on many occasions, he competed with his master's dogs for table scraps and bones. In 1825, he was sent to serve as a houseboy in the home of Hugh and Sophia Auld in Baltimore. Mrs Auld grew fond of him and sought to teach him to read and write. By the time her irate husband discovered the deed and put a stop to it, Douglass had acquired enough of the rudiments to carry on by himself.

His life in Baltimore was interrupted in 1832 at the death of Captain Anthony. Frederick was passed along to the possession of Thomas Auld, Anthony's son-in-law. The lessons he learned about the evils of slavery and his hatred of the institution was deepened during his stay with Thomas Auld. He infuriated the Auld's by his refusal to call his owner "Master" instead of "Captain."

Determined to crush the spirit of young Frederick, Thomas Auld hired him out to Edward Covey, a slave breaker who worked and whipped him mercilessly. He endured the mistreatment until one day he could stand it no longer and fought back. Soon thereafter, Fred was again sent to Baltimore, where he met Anna Murray. His love for and encouragement from Anna, a free Black woman, heightened his quest to be a free man. On September 3, 1838, Douglas, dressed in a sailor's uniform and carrying identification papers provided by a free Black seaman, managed to reach New York City. There he met David Rug...