Douglass' Freedom

A detailed Summary of Douglass' Freedom

Having learned how to read and write, Frederick Douglass changed himself from another man's slave into a widely respected writer. This freedom was set forth by his luck in receiving a mistress, Mrs. Auld, who would begin Douglass' revelation of learning how to read and write. Reaching adulthood and fluency in English, Douglass' perception of freedom changed. As a child, he could not really explain all of what he experienced and how he felt about himself, as a slave, in his earlier slave days in such a way that those who read his autobiography would ever understand completely. But as he matured and developed his linguistic skills, the essence of his thoughts, and the level of understanding had transformed his ideas of freedom.

Since birth, Frederick was immediately exposed to the harsh realities of slavery, which included being deprived of self-identity. "I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it...it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant"(12). Forced to eat his meals of mush out of a trough, wearing nothing but a long, coarsely woven shirt, and being kept in complete mental darkness, Dougl

In January 1833, Douglass went to live with Mr. Covey. He "was now for the first time...a field hand" (42). Douglass would feel the inescapable freedom of a true slave. How it felt to have the cowskin truly meet his flesh, inducing the flow of warm red blood. He felt the fatigue of the plantation fields and the hunger of starvation - all in remembrance to his earlier days in the city with the Aulds. After a severe, near death beating from Mr. Covey, Douglass was resolved to stand up for himself. In a quarrel with Mr. Covey, Douglass was about to endure another whipping. He snatched Mr. Covey hard by the throat; as he did, he rose and faced "the snake" (49). This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning point in Douglass' career. "It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom" (50). This revived self-confidence would keep Douglass away from the whipping-post.

ass was completely dehumanized even before he experienced the horrible violence of the slaveholders towards their slaves. Freedom was mentally shaped for slaves, as to prepare them for their long years of hard laborious service. Frederick was not allowed a family. Before her death, he rarely felt his mother's "soothing presence...tender watchful care" (13). During his childhood, Douglass would experience more freedom than what he would get for many years after. Freedom abruptly ended with his introduction to the infamous slave fields.

At eight years old, Douglass left to Baltimore to live with a new family - the Aulds. In the 1800's, educational suppression was widely practiced by nearly all slaveholders. To do otherwise "was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read" (29). Miraculously, Mrs. Auld taught Frederick the A, B, C's along with writing three and four l

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Approximate Word count = 1197
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English