Frederick Douglass1

A detailed Summary of Frederick Douglass1

Frederick Douglass has been told his whole life who he was, what he was, and where he belonged. He was separated from his mother at a very young age. The family that he knew where his fellow slaves, and most of them were not his real family. He was led to believe that his father was his master, the man who would whip him and treat him as property and not as a son. Now a freeman he must become his own person. Frederick Douglass does not know if he likes chicken or beef, in a sense. His whole life he was never been given the choice of anything. He was told that he would eat chicken, and he probably never tasted beef. Now it was time for him to become a freeman not only in the sense of the words but in his heart and soul.

When he tried to escape the first time, and then was found out, he feared being left in the prison forever by himself. He feared being killed, for trying to obtain his freedom. Frederick writes:

"Immediately after the holidays were over, contrary to all our expectations, Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Freeland came up to Easton, and took Charles, the two Henry's, and John, out of jail, and carried them home, leaving me alone. I regarded this separation as a final one. It cau

The morning after Frederick and Anna arrived in New Bedford, he was told he would have to pick a name, for the reason that there were so many Johnson' s in Bedford. So what, there must be a hundred Smith's and they don't have to change their names. Your name is a part of your identity, yet he is being told that he must do something. He has not been asked whether or not he wants to change his name, he is being told. Even though we can probably understand the necessity for this evil, it is another commodity that has probably caused confusion for him.

There we see that he feared being alone. Which tells us something about his character. He was ready for anything, except being left in jail and separated from his surrogate family. That is what these men were to him. They lived together as a family, and living with another person or four other people you became aquatinted on a personal basis. They ate, slept, and breathed each other for a portion of their lives. When they decided to try to escape they were going to do it together. They trusted each other because each of their lives was in each person's hands. They had to be very careful of the mannerism in which they acted. The slightest wrong move or expression would send suspicion upon them, and cause a whipping or the fear that they might be killed.

However that notion was shortly thrown out, upon the threat upon the informants life. Here Frederick Douglass did not have to live in fear that he would be kidnapped and returned, and he could live contently and happily. Even though this may take some getting used to, it was there right in front of him just waiting for him to grab it, and he did, when he took his life into his own hands just to be a freeman. Something that millions of people take for granted every day in this society.

If after reading the life of a slave, how could u even condone these actions? How could you sleep at night knowing that there were people out there who were being beaten if they, in the slightest manner, made a wrong move? Yes, they did have the abolitionists, but they only did so much. The "Underground Railroad" allowed for some safe passage to the north, but they needed the courage to leave everything behind. The slaves that were left behind were made an example out of so they could scare the others into not running away for a better life. Frederick Douglass was not scared anymore; he made it perfectly clear that we needed to read about the truth. America, which was supposed to be a free country, was only free to those who were not property. If you were a black man you had a collar with identification tags like the dogs or you were branded with the initials of your master and that was who you were. You were not Frederick Douglass; you were the property of Captain Aaron Anthony or Mr. Hugh.

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Approximate Word count = 1926
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English