Fredrick Douglass Essay -- essays research papers

FREDERICK DOUGLASS Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1817, in Tuckahoe, Maryland. Because his slave mother, Harriet Bailey, used to inspect him her " shortsighted 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 sink on a plantation some twelve miles away, and she died when he was eighter from Decatur or nine years old. Douglass knew even less about his father, tho it was rumored that he was the son of his White slave master, Aaron Anthony. Young Frederick was grossly mistreated. To musical accompaniment from starving, on many occasions, he competed with his masters dogs for table scraps and bones. In 1825, he was sent to serve as a houseboy in the home of Hugh and Sophia old 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 acq uired enough of the rudiments to carry on by himself. His biography in Baltimore was interrupted in 1832 at the death of Captain Anthony. Frederick was passed along to the possession of Thomas Auld, Anthonys son-in-law. The lessons he learned about the evils of slavery and his horror of the institution was deepened during his stay with Thomas Auld. He infuriated the Aulds by his refusal to call his owner "Master" instead of "Captain." Determined to crush the spirit of juvenility Frederick, Thomas Auld hired him out to Ed...