Frederick Douglass Narrative

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Slaves were classified as “property” and what kind of place America was when “the land of the free” was only free for white people. Being treated like an animal and having no value. Working so hard and getting fed a little, wanting to fight back, but intimidated by the power white people held, trying hard to be free not only physically, but mentally too. It’s hard to imagine, but this was the reality life for slaves during slavery. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, published in 1845, is an autobiography about the road from slavery to freedom. Douglass is born a slave on a plantation and as a child, he manages to avoid the worst kinds of struggles. After being sent to Baltimore to take care of a baby, Douglass finds passion in learning to read and write. Douglass, as he grows up, …show more content…

In the beginning of Douglass’ life, his only knowledge is the slave world and their duties. He knows the land, the families, and the brutal ways of life as a slave. When Douglass is sent to Baltimore to babysit, Mrs. Auld, his mistress, teaches him the alphabets. Mr. Auld tells her that she cannot teach a “nigger” no more because he thinks that ones they learn, they will be uncontrollable. This changes Douglass’s whole perception of slavery. He realizes that the only thing that stands between a slave and freedom is education. After Mrs. Auld stops teaching him, Douglass starts to read newspapers and books to teach himself how to read and write. The more Douglass learned, the more he starts to realize the ugliest side of slavery. This helps Douglass to be determined to put an end to slavery and eventually helps him escape. For Frederick Douglass, it was knowledge that freed him and changed his life so completely, and that he later uses to help other slaves. Knowledge was what gave Douglass a new life and determination to accomplish something instead of struggling his whole

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