Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

Autobiography

Facing a life of slavery since birth, Frederick could only dream of freedom. As a child, he wished for simple things enough food to fill his hungry stomach and clothes to cover his body and keep him warm. He wanted to celebrate birthdays as white children did on the plantation. In fact, he did not even know what day he was born. He knew he had been born in 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland, but no one was ever sure what day he came into the world. For slaves, birthdays ranked low in importance.

As he grew into an inexperienced man, Frederick's desire for freedom became stronger. His hopes were many he wanted to be treated as a human being, and he wished he could keep the money he earned from his hard work; He yearned to be able to read. He longed to start a family of his own, one that could not be Split up and sold at the whim of a cruel slave owner.

Frederick suffered beatings and humiliation at the hands of his owners. He occasionally tried to escape, patiently waiting for the right time to run away. At other times, he found ways to secretly educate himself. He quickly discovered that the ability to read and write was his key to freedom. Although he wanted to leave his life of slavery, Frederick realized that running away meant leaving his friends behind and likely never seeing them again. While these thoughts filled his heart with sadness, Frederick decided that gaining his freedom was worth the pain. Liter, he would realize that his freedom would allow him to help others in ways not possible when bound in the chains of slavery. Frederick caught in his first. Attempt to run away, but he was successful in another try.

To avoid found in the North, he changed his name to Frederick Douglass and lived as a fugitive. A U.S. law said slaves that were captured had to be returned to their owners. Although risking his own safety, Douglass run- away and fugitive slave started an antislavery newspaper and gave speeches across the country. When the Civil War began, he enlisted a group or black men to fight for the Union cause. With immense pride, Douglass welcomed one of his sons as the first black man to join the volunteer unit.

Douglass gave most or his life to the cause of freedom. He worked to liberate slaves from abuse like Aunt Hester had endured. He refused to leave anyone behind, no matter how much he had to sacrifice. Slaves' working in the heat of a cotton field in the southern United States was a common sight in the 1800s. Plantation owners like Edward Lloyd in Tuckahoe, Maryland, had slaves for every job. While some slaves toiled in the fields, others tended the gardens, worked in the carriage house and stables, and served in the kitchen (Foner, 1950).

Lloyd owned more than 1,000 slaves. Some worked on the home plantation: the rest lived and ...