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- Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
-
- Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, near Hillsborough.
- He doesnÆt know for sure of his age, he has seen no proof and his master
- will not inform him. Most masters prefer for their slaves to stay
- ignorant. He believes that he was around twenty-seven and twenty-eight
- when he began writing his narrative - he overheard his master say he was
- about seventeen years of age during 1835. His mother, Harriet Bailey,
- was separated from him when he was an infant and she died when he was
- seven years old. FrederickÆs father was a white man who could have been
- his master but he never found out.
- Education was of utmost importance in his life. He received his first
- lesson while living with Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Sophia Auld, FrederickÆs
- "mistress", was very humane to him and spent time teaching him the A, B,
- CÆs. After he mastered this, she assisted him in spelling three and
- four letter words. At this point in his lesson Mr. Auld encountered
- what his wife was doing for Frederick and forbid her to continue. He
- believed that "if you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell" and
- continuing with "learning would spoil the best nigger in the world".
- The masters felt that an ignorant slave formed a choice slave and any
- beneficial learning would damage the slave and therefore be futile to
- his master. His next step on the road to success was during his seven
- years living with Master HughÆs family. Frederick would make friends
- with as many white boys as he possibly could on the street. His new
- friends would be transformed into teachers. When he could, Frederick
- carried bread on him as a means of trade to the famished kids for
- knowledge. He would also carry a book anytime he had an errand to run.
- The errand would be completed quickly, allowing extra study time. When
- Frederick was working in Durgin and BaileyÆs ship-yard he would notice
- timber marked with various letters. He soon discovered how the letters
- matched the type of wood and the names of these letters. Any boy he met
- that could write he would challenge them to a writing contest.
- Frederick would use the letters he recently learned and told the child
- to challenge that. He then copied the Italics in WebsterÆs Spelling
- Book until he knew them well. All this hard work and years of practice
- gave Frederick the knowledge to write. After his relocation to Mr.
- Freeland, who was the owner of two slaves, Frederick devoted his Sundays
- teaching these two and other slaves how to read.
- Frederick heard the word abolitionists a few times but it wasnÆt for a
- while until he found out what it meant. If a slave succeeded in
- escaping from his Master or performing a radical action such as burning
- a barn or killing his Master, it was considered to be a form of
- abolition. One day while running an errand, Frederick ran into two
- Irishmen hard at work. Frederick assisted the Irishmen and soon after
- they asked if he was a slave. The men then advised Frederick to run
- away to the north to find friends and freedom. Ever since this
- encounter he has dreamed of the day he could safely escape. An attempt
- to carry out his dreams surfaced during his stay with Master Thomas. He
- did not attempt to escape, however he regrets not doing so since the
- chances of succeeding are ten times greater from the city than from the
- country.
- Anthony, one of FrederickÆs two masters, was not a humane slaveholder.
- Frederick was awakened habitually by the sounds of his own aunt being
- whipped repeatedly because she was caught away for the evening with a
- man. Slaves, when unhappy, sing songs to help drown their sorrow.
- Frederick would often sing for this purpose, and not to express his
- happiness as some slaves also do. The men and women slaves received
- eight pounds of pork or fish and one bushel of corn meal monthly. On a
- yearly basis, they received very little along the lines of clothing.
- The children unable to work in the field were given two shirts per
- year. If they happen to wear out, the children would have to go naked
- until the next year. No beds were supplied, only coarse blankets.
- Master Thomas would not even give a sufficient amount of food to eat,
- which was usually mush (coarse boiled corn meal). This was considered
- to be the most pitiful act even among slave holders. The general rule
- is, no matter how coarse the food is, just make sure there is enough of
- it. Mr. Severe, one of the overseers, was a cruel and heartless man.
- He seemed to treasure the time spent with his whip. Mr. Severe was
- replaced by Mr. Hopkins, a very different man. He was not as brutal as
- Mr. Severe; he whipped when he felt it was necessary, but took no joy in
- it. The slaves considered Mr. Hopkins a good overseer. This was rarely
- the case, however. Colonel Lloyd, for example, would tar his gardening
- fence to keep the slaves from eating his fruit. If his horses didnÆt
- move fast enough or wasnÆt clean enough, the blame would go to the
- keepers. The slave could never answer to any complaints, just stand,
- listen, and tremble. One time Colonel Lloyd passed a slave on the
- street that belonged to him, but the slave did not know who he was. The
- slave told the Colonel that his master did not treat him well. Three
- weeks later, that slave was shipped off to Georgia, away from his family
- and friends, to serve his punishment for answering a simple question
- truthfully. Mr. Gore, an overseer for Colonel Lloyd, was strict,
- serious, and had no sense of humor. This man had the audacity to shoot
- another man in the face simply because he would not remove himself from
- a creek where he was recovering from his wounds. Mr. GoreÆs response
- was that this slave was out of control and if he wasnÆt controlled then
- the other slaves would see this and copy the example. Mr. GoreÆs
- explanation was adequate and all was forgotten.
- A city slave differs greatly from a slave on the plantation. A slave
- from the city receives more food and clothing. A city slaveholder will
- have it known that they provide plenty of food to their slaves. After
- leaving Master ThomasÆs house and living with Mr. Covey, Frederick, for
- the first time, discovered what it was like to be a field hand. He felt
- very awkward in his new environment and came to prove it soon enough. A
- week after his arrival he received a generous number of lashings.
- Frederick had never maneuvered oxen before and was required to take them
- out to the woods by Mr. Covey. He wrecked the oxen, the cart, and
- nearly his life on his journey. Upon arrival, Mr. Covey ordered
- Frederick to return to the forest as to show him the correct way to
- handle oxen. Surprisingly Mr. Covey ordered Frederick to remove his
- clothes. Frederick refused to do so, and therefore this is where his
- first of many whippings came from.
- As an infant, Frederick was separated from his mother. This is common
- in Maryland in an attempt to destroy the childÆs relationship with their
- mother. The separated child is placed with an older woman who cannot
- work. He never saw his mother more than five times, and each time being
- in the dark. Since she was a field hand, she was unavailable from sun
- up until sun down. Around FrederickÆs age of seven his mother died.
- She had passed away and was buried before Frederick knew anything about
- it. He remembers that time in his life as receiving "the tidings of her
- death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the
- death of a stranger". She never once mentioned who his father was and
- rumors went around that his master was his father. He was unable,
- however, to find out the truth behind those rumors.
- In my opinion, the most significant point in DouglassÆ narrative was
- when he talked about getting an education. As Mr. Auld said, "if you
- give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell", proves to be true. An
- ignorant slave will not know better, but an informed slave has that
- extra edge. Frederick took advantage of his inch and made the most of
- it. Using his knowledge, he gave others the same gift.
- I was not aware of such brutal times slaves had to endure on a daily
- basis prior to reading the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
- I doubt that I would have read it on my own, but am pleased to now that
- I have. DouglassÆ narrative gave me explicit and detailed encounters
- and experiences that will have me looking at slavery in a completely
- different, but now informed way. I get upset when I hear certain
- Afro-Americans complain about how the white man controlled them during
- the slavery years and we owe them now for what happened over one hundred
- years ago. Now I am able to understand (to a certain extent) why they
- are so angry at the white man. I disagree with the slavery issue all
- together. I wish that it never would have existed, and feel sympathetic
- that it did. I am glad that we as a nation can grow from such a tragedy
- and realize that the way those men were treated was nothing but wrong.
- I donÆt care what a man does, nobody deserves to be shot in the face in
- the middle of a creek for disobeying. Upon completing the reading of
- the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, I have a better
- understanding of what exactly happened to the slaves in the 1800Æs and
- believe that it is an important reading in American history, as everyone
- should be informed about this part of AmericaÆs past.