Frederick Douglass Case

It is better to die fighting for freedom than to be a slave everyday of life. Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, whose name later changed to Frederick Douglass, was an educated slave who eventually escaped slavery. Frederick risked the consequences of being caught, killed or beaten more on the road to freedom. Knowing these consequences, Douglass refused to let these obstacles hinder the long road to freedom. Slavery, a huge problem in American history, affected the life of Frederick Douglass. Douglass transformed America for the good! Without an inspiring speaker like Douglass, slavery may still exist in America today.

Slavery starts at an early age for slaves through life. In February 1818, Frederick Douglass, the son of Harriet Bailey and a slaveholder named Anthony, was born. Douglass only got the chance to see Harriet a few times, in order to resist any bond made with a mother and child during slavery. Douglass and Harriet were separated from each other. Many slave families were like this. There was no promise that families would stay together. One day a slave would be at a place another day the slave may be sold. This was so that there would be fewer distractions. Whippings of slaves were moments that haunted Douglass for life. One of the first whippings witnessed by Douglass was of Aunt Hester. Douglass recalled that "The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped, and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped the longest. Moments like these are unforgettable, even years after the incident.

At age eight, Douglass was given to the Auld family who lived in Baltimore. At Baltimore Frederick was not treated as a slave, but a child (Alder 16). Sophia would treat Douglass as an adopted son. A year and a half years passed after Frederick settled down Captain Anthony died. Douglass was forced to go back to Maryland. At Maryland all of Anthony's "property" was divided into two groups. One group was had a cruel master and the other group had a good master. Luckily Douglass got to go back to Baltimore. Douglass spent the next five years in Baltimore.

Education is the key to freedom. Sophia Auld began to teach Frederick how to read and write, until Hugh Auld scolded Sophia. Hugh was unhappy with Sophia teaching Frederick how to read. When this event happened Douglass was convinced that education would lead to freedom. Douglass convinced poor free boys to teach reading and writing for food. Many slaves don't have the option to be taught. In fact, the punishment for teaching slaves to read was jail and slaves could be killed for reading. However, a slave that has education is no longer fit for being a slave. Therefore, an educated slave would have more of a chance to escape and become free. Sophia was frightened by Hugh, so the mistress stopped the lessons.

When Frederick was fifteen, Douglass was sent back to the plantations to work for Thomas Auld. Thomas was a cruel and unpredictable master. Thomas found Douglass to be of no good use and like a toy was broken. Douglass was given to Edward Covey for one year. Edward Covey was known for breaking down souls of a slave, which is similar to the way horses were broken. Along with other slaves, Douglass worked from dusk to dawn. After months of being whipped Frederick found the courage to standup to Covey. Frederick and Covey fought until Covey gave up and let go saying that if Frederick had not resisted, then Frederick may not have been whipped. From that day on Covey never touched Frederick. The obvious statement is even if Frederick did everything Covey said to do Frederick would still have gotten hit. The only reason why Covey left Frederick alone was due to the fear of being humiliated again.