Frederick Douglass
- Describe Frederick Douglass' early childhood. What kind of relationship did he have with his mother? Who was his father? Why did Douglass believe that slaves of mixed parentage suffer[ed] greater hardships than other slaves? Provide specific details that support your response.
According to Frederick Douglass’ own account, he had no authentic record of his age. For him, it was his source of dissatisfaction not to have learned how old he really was (that is, just like most of the slaves his age or older). According to him, it is improper and impertinent for a slave like him to ask his master concerning his age. Based on his master’s reckoning, he was born in 1818. Because Douglass was taken away while an infant (at the most, 12-months of age), and then taken care of by an old black nanny; there was no mother-child affectionate relationship that was established between them. According to what he had heard of, Douglass’ father was Aaron Anthony, a white man and his former master. Out of hatred, the legitimate wives of the white men impose special mistreatment to the illicit slave children because they consider them as “peculiarly dangerous characters.”
- In Chapter Four, Douglass recounted some of the brutality visited upon slaves by white overseers and masters. In your own words, describe some of the episodes that Douglass witnessed. According to Douglass, was the killing of a slave treated as a crime by the Talbot County courts or community? Support your response with evidence from the book.
Douglass witnessed some of brutal episodes inflicted upon slaves by white overseers and masters, such as in the case of Aunt Hester. Beautiful Aunt Hester, as Douglass called her, was stripped of her clothing, hands fastened with a rope that was hooked to the ceiling, and then lashed with rawhide until her fresh blood dripped to the floor. Douglass, who was still a young boy then, was so afraid that he hid himself from a closet because he was “so terrified and horror-stricken at the sight.” Just think of the heartrending shrieks as the master unceasingly performed a maniacal lashing until such time that he became tired. What a horrible, inhumane sight, indeed! There are other long list of brutal acts that where committed to slaves that he witnessed at a young age and as a grown-up individual. According to Douglass, killing a slave was not treated as a crime by the Talbot County courts or community because even when a warrant of arrest was served against the accused, there was no any arraignment made for the “horrid crime.”
- How did Douglass learn how to read and write? What personal and legal obstacles did he surmount in order to attain basic literacy? Be specific.
When Douglass was eight years old, he became a houseboy to the Auld family. The said family was related to his supposed white father, Anthony. It was Sophia, Hugh Auld’s housewife, who taught him to read. However, she stopped from teaching the young Douglass because white men believe that it was not fit for slaves to be literate. Contrary to that admonition, Douglass learned the value of reading; he taught himself how to read. At the age of 13, he bought and studied avidly The Columbian Orator, an anthology of great speeches. Part of the personal struggle that he overcame included reading books, newspapers, and other materials that came his way. Part of the legal obstacles that he surmounted in his quest for basic literacy was writing false passes for him and others with similar plights. A specific instance in the life of Douglass was his publication of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Because of the book, it exposed his identity. As a fugitive slave, he left America and headed though Great Britain and Ireland to talk against slavery.
- In Chapter Ten, Douglass asserted that his battle with Mr. Covey was the turning point in his career as a slave. What led Douglass to draw this conclusion? Provide details.
Douglass asserted that his battle with Mr. Edward Covey was the turning point in his life as a slave because he stood up and beat him. He viewed his victory over the white master as the reawakening of his desire to be a free man. He soon planned his escaped from his master while engaged with a free black woman, Anna Murray, her “intended wife.” From then on, he moved to the North while still owned by the Auld’s family. He subsequently changed his surname to “Douglass” to conceal his identity. Moreover, he engaged in anti-slavery activities (that is, speeches and abolitionist meetings).
- Why did Douglass believe that holidays served as the most important means among the slaveholder in keeping down the spirit of insurrection in slaves?
Douglass believed that holidays served as the most important means among slaveholders in keeping down the spirit of insurrection in slaves because holidays served as “safety valves.” For Douglass, he considered the holidays offered to slaves as a means of dying down the grossest wrong, fraud, and inhumanity of slavery. In addition, holidays were simply used to hid the slaveholders’ selfishness. Slaves were conditioned to believe that the slaveholders’ benevolence to the downtrodden slaves was better than none at all (that is, “there was little to choose between liberty and slavery”). During holidays, slaves were made to enjoy merriment to their hearts’ content only as one of the grossest form of inhumanity against slaves. Because of the belief that slaves deserve holidays to enjoy, insurrection among the slaves was thought to die off.
- What was the most painful thought that Douglass had to contend with when contemplating flight from slavery? Why was he hesitant to provide the specific details regarding his path to freedom?
The most painful thought that Douglass had to contend with when contemplating flight from slavery was leaving his warmhearted friends behind. Many black people have friends that they will leave when they escape from their masters to embrace a life of freedom. He was most hesitant to provide the specific details concerning his path to freedom for various reasons. He did not want to put his black brothers in more perilous or deeper predicaments, especially, slaves in the hands of some brute slaveholders. He wanted that his brothers escape bondage using means not detrimental to their lives.
- Why do you believe that the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass had such a profound impact on the abolitionist movement in antebellum America? Why does the book continue to remain relevant today, over 160 years since its initial publication?
Douglass’ Narrative had such a tremendous and profound impact on the abolitionist movement in antebellum America because it opened the eyes of men, in general, about the gross inhumanity of slavery. The book continues to remain relevant until today (over 160 years now) because it is a reminder that no person was free when held in bondage by fellow human beings. For Douglass, all men were created equal by God. He also believed in the Declaration of Independence. Because of Douglass’ book, he is considered as one of the epitomes of freedom among men.
Bibliography
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2009.
Douglass, Frederick. "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave." In America 1: A Narrative History, by George Brown Tindall and David A. Shi. New York: Norton, 2009.
