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1-Page Summary of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born in 1817 or 1818. He was a slave, and his mother Harriet Bailey soon after he was born. Frederick’s father is likely Captain Anthony, the clerk of Colonel Lloyd who owned hundreds of slaves on large plantations. The slaves worked hard and received little food or clothing, were beaten for breaking rules, and sometimes even killed by overseers like Mr. Severe and Mr. Austin Gore who were cruel to them.

Douglass’s time in slavery is not as bad as that of most slaves. As a child, he serves in the house instead of working in the fields. At seven years old, he is given to Captain Anthony’s son-in-law’s brother Hugh Auld who lives in Baltimore. In Baltimore, Douglass enjoys more freedom than on the plantation. City slave owners are more concerned about appearing cruel or negligent toward their slaves because they live among non-slaveowners and don’t want to be ostracized by them for being mean or neglectful toward their slaves.

Douglass:

Sophia Auld, Hugh’s wife, has never had slaves before. She is kind to Douglass at first and teaches him how to read until her husband forbids it because he thinks that education makes slaves unmanageable. Eventually Sophia succumbs to the mentality of slaveowners and becomes crueler toward Douglass. Although she was once kind, she loses her natural kindness as a result of slavery.

Douglass is taken back to Thomas Auld after the death of Captain Anthony. Auld is a mean man who treats Douglass harshly, and he believes that slavery should be maintained for religious reasons. He considers Douglass unmanageable, so he rents him out to Edward Covey for one year. During his time with Covey, Douglass becomes brutish and no longer cares about freedom or education; all he can do is rest from the injuries inflicted by Covey on him during their fights. The turning point comes when Douglass decides to fight back against Covey instead of submitting to him. They have a two-hour fight in which neither gives up until they’re both too tired to continue fighting; afterward, Covey never touches Douglass again because he’s afraid that if they ever fight again, it will result in his death at the hands of an angry slave.

Douglass was sent to Baltimore by Thomas Auld. He then worked for William Freeland, who was a kinder and gentler master than his previous one. Douglass started an illegal school for slaves at the homes of free blacks in order to educate them about religion. Despite the threat of violence and punishment, many slaves from neighboring farms came to learn with him. During this time, he also planned his escape with three other friends but it was discovered before they could leave their home. After that incident, he went back to work for Thomas Auld again as a caulker on ships in Baltimore Harbor.

Douglass is a free black in Baltimore, where he works on the docks. There are many white workers who think that more blacks will take their jobs if they’re allowed to work there. Douglass encounters violence from his coworkers and has to change shipyards because of this problem. In his new apprenticeship, he learns how to caulk ships and earns the highest wages possible for someone learning that trade.

Douglass eventually gets permission to hire out his time and works hard to save money. Eventually, he runs away from the plantation and escapes to New York. Douglass doesn’t describe how he escaped because doing so could put future slaves in danger of being caught by their masters. In New York, Douglass fears that someone will find him and send him back into slavery; therefore, he changes his name from Bailey to Douglass. He also marries Anna Murray, a free woman who lived in Baltimore at the time that they met there. They move north to Massachusetts where Douglass becomes very involved with the abolitionist movement through writing articles for newspapers and giving speeches about his experiences as a slave.