Douglass, Frederick (1818–1895)

African American writer, autobiographer, abolitionist, and diplomat, Frederick Douglass, born Frederick Bailey, is truly one of the most inspiring individuals in American history. Born into slavery in 1818 on Maryland's eastern shore, Douglass grew up without knowing the identities of either his mother or father. In his autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, he recounts how he heard rumors that his father was actually the master of the plantation. His mother, as he asserts, was deliberately separated from him when he was an infant to prevent familial bonds from forming between slaves;however, she sometimes visited him surreptitiously at night, after curfew hours, risking punishment to spend some time with young Frederick. Despite her efforts, when she died, Douglass did not feel any connection to her. He laments this as a typical situation, in which slavery destroyed the natural bonds that should develop between parents and their children.

As a child, he did not experience physical violence, though he witnessed other slaves, including an aunt, being savagely beaten for minor offenses. In 1826, when he was a small child, Douglass was transferred to the household of Hugh Auld in Baltimore, Maryland. The brother-in-law of Douglass' master, Auld had requested a slave to employ as a household servant. Life in Baltimore differed tremendously from that on the plantation on the eastern shore, because many blacks in Baltimore were free—there were more free blacks, in fact, than slaves. Furthermore, while he had been either ignored or mistreated on the plantation, in the Auld household, Douglass received kinder treatment from his new mistress, Sophia Auld.

A woman who had previously earned her own living before marrying, Sophia Auld initially treated young Douglass with the same gentleness she showed her own son, Tommy. When Douglass asked her to teach him how to read, she embarked on the task with enthusiasm. Douglass rapidly made progress and could soon read simple words and string together short sentences. However, when Hugh Auld soon discovered that his wife was teaching a slave child how to read, he immediately stopped the lessons. Douglass recounts the experience as one of the most profound in his life.

The experience disappointed Douglass, who had been making rapid progress, but it also taught him something important—that slavery and oppression were maintained by deliberately denying slaves education and an opportunity for self-improvement;that is, by keeping them ignorant. When he discovered this secret of how whites continued to enslave Africans, Douglass became determined to continue his education, though he would have to rely on his wits.

One of the greatest scenes in American literature is undoubtedly that, recounted in his autobiography, in which Douglass bribes poor white children in his [Page 475]Baltimore neighborhood with stolen loaves of bread to teach him unfamiliar words and pronunciations. In this steady, wily manner, Douglass cobbled together an education. He read as many books as he could obtain, teaching himself history and other subjects.

After 7 years in Baltimore, Douglass was transferred back to the plantation on which he was raised. He was hired out as a field hand under the supervision of Edward Covey, reputedly a vicious overseer. Having endured several violent beatings, a demoralized Douglass became determined to escape. After an unsuccessful attempt in 1836, he finally succeeded in September of 1838 with the help of abolitionists. Disguised as a sailor, he went to the North, where he began a new life. He married Anna Murray, an African American abolitionist who had helped finance his escape.

...