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https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.74.75

https://www.britannica.com/event/Harpers-Ferry-Raid (painting)

Frederick Doulgass Heritage. Timeline of the Life of Frederick Douglass. n.d. 29 January 2021.

http://www.frederick-douglass-heritage.org/category/timeline/

National Park Service. Frederick Douglass. n.d. 1 January 2021.

https://www.nps.gov/frdo/learn/historyculture/frederickdouglass.htm

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Frederick Douglass: From Slave to Statesman | 5 Minute Video

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1. A key point of this passage is that the more people understand their plight or oppression, the more resentment and agony they will feel. I heavily agree with this because one of the ways that authoritarians keep power is by hiding the oppression of the people from the people, it is a problem that still exists to this day. (62-63)
2. Another point is that one of the keys to obtaining freedom is knowledge. I agree with this because without the knowledge of reading and writing, slaves did not know even the first step to obtaining their freedom. It was even a pro-slavery argument that slaves did not have the knowledge to be able to handle their freedom. (63-64)
3. One more point of Douglass’s is that having such enormous power over people can change their personality for the worse (like Thomas Auld’s wife). I strongly agree because it is widely known that slaves were often treated very savagely due to no restrictions on what their masters could do to them. (60-61)

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- Douglass most likely wrote this passage between 1844-1845. During this time the debate around slavery raged on.
- Shortly after the release of the memoir, the Woman’s Rights convention happened at Seneca Falls, NY in 1848.
- In 1850, The Compromise of 1850 was passed, which also included the new Fugitive Slave Act.
- In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska act was passed, which allowed the spread of slavery to continue.
- In 1859, John Brown started a slave rebellion at Harper’s Ferry. It failed and Brown was executed for treason.

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In this chapter from Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, he talks about how he learned to read and write despite it being forbidden by his master. It began when the master’s wife started to teach Frederick the basics of literacy only for her to cease at the command of her husband. She at first obeyed reluctantly but then began to act more strictly than even her husband, whether it was snatching newspapers out of the young boy’s hands or assuming he was in possession of a book when not in sight and ordering Frederick to present himself. Despite her efforts, Frederick had been given an inch and he did not intend to stop learning. He read when performing errands and made friends with white boys who would also give him lessons; It was with these efforts that he finally learned to read. Later on, as Frederick read more and more, he began to better understand his plight and agonize over his bondage and think of nothing but his freedom to the point of torment.

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- Frederick Douglass was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in February 1818 to a slave woman named Harriet Bailey
- Frederick did not know his father but he suspected Aaron Anthony, a white slave owner.
- Frederick barely knew his mother since she worked at a different plantation and could rarely visit. His mother died when he was just 7 years old.
- When he was 8 years old, he was separated from his grandmother and brought to the Why House plantation. It is here that he saw the brutality and cruelty of slavery for the first time.
- A year after, he was given to the Auld family and sent to Baltimore where the events described in the selection took place. He lived with them for 7 years before his master (Aaron Anthony) died without a will. Douglass was then given to Thomas Auld.

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https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1539.html

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- Frederick was Auld’s slave for 5 years. Then in 1838, he escaped using the underground railroad to New Bedford, MA. He changed his last name to Douglass at this time as well.
- After his escape, Douglass became a prominent abolitionist, subscribing to numerous anti-slavery newspapers and attending abolitionist events.
- In 1845, he fled the country to avoid being recaptured as a fugitive slave. His supporters raised money to buy his freedom from Thomas Auld. Frederick and his family returned in 1847, moving to Rochester, NY.
- During the Civil War, he became a Republican and urged Lincoln to allow black soldiers in the Union army. Lincoln finally allowed this in 1863, and Douglass made extreme efforts to help recruit black soldiers.
- After the war, Douglass continued to advocate for many social causes and held many federal positions under the Republican administrations. He passed away in 1895 from a heart attack.

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He even thought that maybe his master was right in that learning to read would only bring slaves sorrow and resentment for their captors. He hated his own existence and wished to die instead of constantly being reminded of his lack of freedom. He then began to hear the word ‘abolition’ and at first associated it with the acts of unruly slaves. It wasn’t until he obtained a copy of the city newspaper and saw the petitions from northerners for the abolition of slavery that he finally learned its true meaning. He became very interested in the topic and made an effort to be involved in conversations in which it was discussed. The idea of running away kept coming up in his mind, but he decided before doing so he must grow older and learn how to write. He did this in various ways, beginning with learning the letters written on the lumber where he worked. Then he would challenge boys that he knew how to write and then study what they wrote in response. And finally, when the house was empty, he would study the writing book of the master’s son or copy down the words from the dictionary until he could do it from memory. After doing this repeatedly for years, he finally learned how to write.