Frederick Douglass was born a slave in 1817 as Frederick Bailey on a farm in Tuckahoe, near Easton town in Talbot County, Maryland. The owner of the farm, Captain Anthony, was Frederick's first master. Frederick's mother, Harriet Bailey, worked for long hours in the fields of Captain Anthony's farm situated twelve miles away from their home. Because of this, Frederick's mother was unable to take care of him and so Frederick was sent to live with his grandmother, Betsey Bailey. Betsey was too old for field labour; thus, her job was to take care of children until they were old enough to work. Being so far apart, Frederick was only able to see his mother four or five times in his life. Those times that they did meet were very short and happened during the nights (24; ch.1). Harriet Bailey died when Frederick was about seven years old, but he did not know anything about her death until much later. Hence, Frederick had little memory of his mother. It was unclear who Frederick's father was. Frederick himself had very little information about his father except that he was white. Frederick had also speculated that his father might be Captain Anthony. Thus, Frederick spent his childhood with h

At the age of six, Frederick began his work for Captain Anthony. The slave children of Captain Anthony were fed corn meal mush that was placed in a trough. They looked like so many pigs that ate mush with oyster-shells, naked hands until they left the trough satisfied (52; ch.5). Moreover, these slaves only got two coarse linen shirts, reaching to their knees, for clothing per year. Seven to ten years old children were almost naked all seasons. They were not provided beds or warm blankets. Hence, they slept in the kitchen on cold winter nights in order to keep themselves warm (51; ch.5).

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Ed. Benjamin Quarles. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1960.

In March of 1832, Frederick, a 15 year-old-boy, left Baltimore and went to live with his new master, Thomas Auld, at St. Michael's. Thomas was described as a mean and cruel but coward man who never gave a slave enough food to eat. Therefore, slaves had to steal food from neighboring farms to survive. Frederick was extremely unhappy about his new situation because of his dislike for his new master. He quickly became unsuitable for Thomas's purpose. As a result, Frederick received severe whippings from Thomas, all for no good reason (87; ch.9). In January 1833, Frederick was sent to Edward Covey for one year. Mr. Covey was a poor farmer and an expert "nigger-breaker". However, Covey fed his slaves better than Thomas did. Covey gave them enough to eat, but very little time to eat before they were sent back to work. Slaves of Covey must work from dawn until after dusk. Frederick worked for the first time in his life as a field hand in the woods of Covey. After working for one week, Frederick got the first serious beating from Covey. During the six months that followed, Frederick was continually whipped as serious as the first time until he was broken in body, spirit and soul. On one of the hottest days of August 1833, Frederick's strength failed him and he could not stand any longer in the field. As Covey saw this, he kicked and beat Frederick until Frederick became unconscious. After Frederick got his strength back, he went back to the Auld farm to beg them to let him stay. Unluckily, Thomas Auld refused and sent him back to Covey. One day, when Covey began tying him for a whipping, Frederick found the strength to rebel this beating. The spirit of resolving to fight suddenly came to his mind that suited his action to the resolution (103; ch.10). There was a battle between Frederick and Covey for nearly two hours, until Covey finally gave up. From that time on, Covey stopped whipping him. "I felt as I never felt before. It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom", Frederick wrote (105; ch.10). He felt like he was freed as a result of this victory.

is grandmother on the outskirts of the plantation. During these years, he had no understanding of slavery or the situation t

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sophia Auld, Hugh Auld, Captain Anthony, Michael's Thomas, Master Hugh, Slaves Covey, Thomas Auld, Hugh Frederick, William Freeland, Anna Murray, hugh auld, captain anthony, master hugh, baltimore live, frederick sent, frederick douglass, sent baltimore live, slave read, captain anthony's, read write, sent baltimore, baltimore live master, slave read write,
Approximate Word count = 2026
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)