Fredrick Douglass

A detailed Summary of Fredrick Douglass

The book that I chose is Narrative Of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by Douglass. Frederick Douglass was born a slave on a plantation in Tuckahoe, about 12 miles from Easton, in Talbot County, Maryland. He did not know who was his real father. He heard some people said that his first master, Captain Anthony was his father. His mother was Harriet Bailey; she was the daughter of Isaac and Betsey Bailey, who were both colored and dark. His real name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. Nobody knows the exact date of his birth, but historians believe it was in February 1818.

The main character of this book is Frederick Douglass. He was a slave and for me he was a strong person emotionally because he didn't allow his surrounding affect the way he thought and future plans. In the first chapters he talks about horrible scenes he sees in his childhood. He explains when he saw his aunt being whipped and how the blood ran from his back. Even though he depicts ugly reminisces like these of his childhood experiences, one can feel the painful sentiments that he must have felt while writing his autobiography. He might have been indifferent to what was happening when he was younger but as an adult he has a conscience.

His autobiography presents the conflict of Man vs. Society. Even though the slave owners mistreated the slaves, man also creates society and government. There was a majority in favor for slavery (society) so the slaves could not overpower their strength. Society didn't want them to learn to read, write, speak properly. As long as they were "less" than them they could be their rightful owners. Slaves were considered property in society and if the government didn't appeal or reform then they had no chance of winning this conflict.

There are many people in Douglass' life. Harriet Bailey is his mother who died when was born. Colonel Edward Lloyd was a rich slave holder, Captain Anthony was his first master and Mr. Plummer was his overseer. Captain Anthony had two sons; Richard and Andrew, and a daughter; Lucretia Auld. Lucretia's husband, Thomas becomes Douglass' second master. They lived in Baltimore, Maryland. He has a brother, Hugh who is married to Sophia and have a son Little Thomas. They lived in St. Michael's, a town in Talbot County. There are a couple of slaves Douglass meets; Old Barney and Demby who is killed by Austin Gore (an overseer). Mr. Edward Covey is a slave breaker and Mr. Freeland is a farmer to whom Douglass is hired out.

"I was again seized with a feeling of great insecurity and loneliness." (Douglass 83). Douglass was now a free man in a free state. He felt he had been released from a den of lions. He sensed freedom for once and loved it but eve

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Approximate Word count = 998
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People