Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

Introduction

Frederick Douglass can tell us much about American history and contemporary black thought. According to Frederick Douglass, the violence that is endemic to slavery shaped the identities of both black and whites in the antebellum South. Douglass's experiences of violence in his life contributed to the foundation of his identity as a man and a slave.

Discussion

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. During the beginning of his life, like every slave, Frederick experienced gross mistreatment. 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. At the point of Frederick's progress in reading and writing, Mr. Auld found out what was happening and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct Douglass any further. Mr. Auld continued to tell her that, “if you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell,” (p.57). The reason for Mr. Auld's actions were based purely on fear. Slave owners were terrified that if slaves were educated it would lead to a rebellion. But by the time the deed was discovered and was put to a stop, Douglass had acquired enough of the rudiments to carry on by himself.

Who

His life in Baltimore was interrupted in 1832 with the death of Captain Anthony. Captain Anthony's “property” was to be valued as his inheritance to his kin. All the slaves, men, women, old and young, were ranked together along with the horses, sheep, and pigs. At that moment, Frederick saw more clearly than ever the brutalizing effects of slavery upon both slave and slaveholder. He was being taught to view himself and the other slaves as property, not human beings.

Eventually 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 deepened during his stay with Thomas Auld. Frederick witnessed Master Thomas whipping a lame young woman for hours till her naked shoulders were dripping warm red blood onto the kitchen floor. His master's cruelty was even more pronounced because the woman was completely helpless.

Determined to crush the independent spirit of young Frederick, Thomas Auld hired him out to Edward Covey, a known slave breaker who worked and whipped slaves, including Frederick, mercilessly. While living under Covey, Frederick was sent out to fetch wood with an unbroken oxen. After struggling with the oxen for a considerable period of time, he finally arrived home with the oxen to Covey who gave him a severe whipping for taking too long; he cut his back, raising welts on his flesh as large as a ...