Auld disapproves of slaves being taught how to read, Douglass realizes the importance of reading and the possibilities that this skill could help him. Auld, disapproves and states that if slaves could read, they would not be fit to be slaves, being unmanageable and sad. Douglass learns the alphabet and how to spell small words from this woman, but her husband, Mr. Sophia Auld, who begins as a very kind woman but eventually turns cruel. He even starts to have hope for a better life in the future.

This move is rather important for him because he believes that if he had not been moved, he would have remained a slave his entire life. Douglass says that fear is what kept many slaves in forced servitude, for when they told the truth they were punished by their owners.įrontispiece of Douglass from the first editionĪt this point in the Narrative, Douglass is moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Douglass details the cruel interaction that occurs between slaves and slaveholders, as well as how slaves are supposed to behave in the presence of their masters. At a very early age, he sees his Aunt Hester being whipped.

He thinks his father is a white man, possibly his owner. He has very few memories of her (children were commonly separated from their mothers), only of the rare nighttime visit. It contains two introductions by well-known white abolitionists: a preface by William Lloyd Garrison, and a letter by Wendell Phillips, both arguing for the veracity of the account and the literacy of its author.ĭouglass begins by explaining that he does not know the date of his birth (he later chose February 14, 1818), and that his mother died when he was 7 years old.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass encompasses eleven chapters that recount Douglass's life as a slave and his ambition to become a free man. In factual detail, the text describes the events of his life and is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States. It is generally held to be the most famous of a number of narratives written by former slaves during the same period. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an 1845 memoir and treatise on abolition written by African-American orator and former slave Frederick Douglass during his time in Lynn, Massachusetts. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass at Wikisource

Douglass slave narrative