Fredrick Douglas
Is it possible for one of our times, living in the free United States, to be bonded in the institution of slavery? One hundred and fifty years have past now since slavery was abolished. The institution of slavery kept the deprivation of women legal and the learning of the mind illegal. Among the slaves, there could be no men, or else that slave would not be a slave. Frederick Douglas existed among slavery only to later on escape and gain his freedom from those who oppressed and enslaved him. The masters of slaves were determined to keep their slaves ignorant so that they would not even think of freedom or the joys it. Slaveholders tried to keep their slaves happy, but yet under their control. Douglas would not stand for this. It was his intelligence, bravery, and determination that made Frederick Douglas a man and not a slave.Frederick Douglas was born and raised a slave. He had no other life in his youth. The harsh conditions of the institution forced Frederick to crawl into a bag at night and sleep on the cold ground with his head in the bag and his feet outside of it. This form of sleeping led his feet to be cracked with frost so badly that one could stick a pen into the gashes. Douglas and the other slaves were
This did not last long in deed for in a few months, Douglas’ non-slave like characteristics would arise again. Covey would go to whip him (Douglas had avoided his whippings by running away and hiding). Douglas refused to be whipped. This caused a fight between the two that would result in a stand off. This allowed Douglas to be free of whippings from Mr. Covey. No word was ever spoken of this incident for if word did get out then Covey would not have any more slaves to break. His reputation as a nigger breaker was one that he held dear and did not want to lose. Douglas proved himself to be brave. Brave enough to stand up to a man that was know for his cruelty. The battle revived Douglas thoughts of freedom and it became that turning point in his career as a slave. It revived his sense of manhood. Douglas was determined to live a free life. He tried to escape from bondage not once, but twice. After betrayal the first time, Douglas was sent to the city once again to live with the Auld family. Douglas picked up a trade and worked to gain wages. He devised a plan where he would contract his time and would pay Mr. Auld six dollars a week to allow him to do this. He would allow Mr. Auld to trust that he would not run away. He did this by working hard and giving Mr. Auld all of his wages. He would make Mr. Auld very happy and content with this agreement. At the height of this, Douglas escaped bondage. He was able to outwit his master and escape from the hells of slavery. Learning how to read illuminated Douglas’ mind. It allowed him to see a light in a dark tunnel. It allowed him to find the key, to unlock his chains. This one great skill allowed him to see that slavery was
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Approximate Word count = 1156
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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