Frederick Douglass

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Frederick Douglass

All stories have a beginning, middle and an end and Frederick Douglass’s story began as a slave and ended as a free man. Although he was born into slavery, the placement of Frederick Douglass’s time spent in slavery was of great importance and realization in his own life time-line. His epiphanies and realizations from the interpretation of life changing events were, to him, the actual beginning, middle and end of his life of slavery.

Frederick was born in Maryland and early in his life he lived on the outskirts of the plantation where his Grandmother took care of him and the little children. Frederick was quite young and during this stage of Frederick’s life he did not understand slavery. He was not tainted by the gross evil that it entailed. He had not had the humiliating and dehumanizing experience while being an African American that worked the plantations. Nor had he witnessed the violent overseers beat their slaves till they drew blood or take a slave’s life without repercussion. Although Frederick was kept abreast of these things for a time, it was not long until he was introduced to everything that was slavery. It took one event for him to realize that he was a slave and that he was to walk that path for the remainder of his time there. Despite being born a slave he did not begin the life of a slave until he witnessed the beating of Aunt Hester.

While on the plantation in Maryland the slave’s had an overseer named Mr. Plumber. Mr. Plumber had told Aunt Hester not to go see a young man that she fancied who lived near the plantation, but she disobeyed and went to meet him. Mr. Plumber discovered Aunt Hester’s defiance and saw it consequence to whip her. He tied her hands crossed with rope and hung her to a hook while she stood on a stool and slashed her repeatedly with the whip. As blood came from the slashing, Douglass later commented, “I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was quite a child, but I well remember it. I never shall forget it whilst I remember anything. It was the first of a long series of such outrages, of which I was doomed to be a witness and a participant. It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery.

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