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A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

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A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

The title alone speaks to the dichotomy of the life of the man we know as Frederick Douglass. Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born a slave, but Frederick Douglass was a free man. The path he took from slavery to freedom was long, difficult, and like that of many blacks in the pre-Abolition era. Through a series of events, Douglass was able to first free his mind and eventually his body from the shackles of slavery. His story still stands as a startling first-hand account of the life of an American Slave. Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland. Like many slaves, the exact year or day was unknown to him. He knew his mother, Harriet Bailey, but his father’s identity was a secret. It was rumored that this master was actually his father, though he was unable to confirm the whispers. He was separated from his mother, as was custom, at a young age. He knew very little of Harriet and when he was about 7 years old, she died. Douglass noted, “She was gone long before I knew any thing about it. Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger.” After the death of his mother, Douglass was moved around and kept as the live property of various families. With stark details, he describes the conditions of slave life. Slaves received monthly allowances of food and yearly allowances of clothing. There were no beds and blankets – if they can be called that – were rough and tattered and provided little to no comfort or warmth. This was the life of a slave. They were provided enough to survive, but only just. The days were long and full of work. During his time with various families he encountered various overseers. Some

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