Frederick Douglass


Douglass' original name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey.Frederick Douglass was born in a slave cabin, on February, in the year of 1818 near the town of Easton,on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.Douglass was separated from his mother when he was only a few weeks old.His stepmom died when he was 7 years old. The identity of his father is obscure{blocked}. There is no information about him.

After having no one to live with, he was forced to live with his grandparents. After a few years living with them, they passed away. By the orphanage, he was given to Lucretia Auld, the sister of Hugh Auld. His wife Sophia, took pity on him and decided to teach him how to read and how to say the alphabet. Sophia knew she was breaking the law by helping him. Hugh Auld did not care whether he was smart or whether he was not smart. Hugh did not care about his freedom, he was treated unfairly. Nobody else cared about him except Sophia.

After Sophia's job of teaching him, Douglass wanted to take on the skills of reading and writing. He began to read articles, newspapers, political materials...etc. Douglass later published his own books.He then wanted to help slaves learn how to read and write, and he did. He taught slaves how to read from the New Testament at a Sabbath School on the plantation. More than 40 slaves attended his lessons. After Hugh Auld{his owner} found out , he sent him to Edward Covey, a poor farmer; also known as a slave-breaker. Being with him, he was whipped regularly.Every time he did something wrong, he was whipped. Every time he did something right, he was still whipped. He rebelled against the beatings, and fought back. At this time he was only 16 years old.Covey lost to a confrontation{debate} with Douglass; after this, he never tried to hit, touch, or beat him again.

In 1836, Douglass made an attempt to escape from his owner, Edward Covey. This attempt he made was successful, but the second attempt wasn't. He tried to escape from his next owner Mr.Freeman. Mr.Freeman treated Douglass like a slave, like he was nothing valuable. He finally escaped this slavery one night while Mr.Freeman was sleeping. September 3rd, 1838 Douglass boarded a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland. From there he crossed the Susquehanna River by a ferry, he continued by train all the way to Wilmington, Delaware. From Delaware he took a steamboat to Quaker City- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Douglass' escape to freedom officially led him to New York. This whole journey took less than 24 hours. He finally won his freedom when the British sympathizers {people who feel sorry for someone} paid the slaveholder who legally owned him.

Douglass was best known for his first autobiography, '' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave''; published in 1845, when he was at the age of 27. This book was translated to French and Dutch. In 1855 he published '' My Bondage and My Freedom''. Later in 1881, after the Civil War, Douglass published '' Life and Times of Frederick Douglass'', which he had revised in 1892. Douglass basically published books about himself, his life, and his family.

Douglass didn't live too much of a great life in his first few years. Douglass had experienced death of his mother and his grandparents, and abandonment from his father. I picked Frederick Douglass as my person to do my report on because I thought he and his life were interesting. He inspired me to do many things, no matter what it was. Now I know I can stand up for what's right.

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