Frederick Douglass- Book Review by Ben Steuri

“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is a real life account of an American slave. Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Talbot Country, Maryland. As an infant, his mother was taken away from him before Douglass had reached his first year. He only remembers seeing his mother four or five times. She lived on Mr. Stewart’s farm which was located about twelve miles from where Douglass was living. Wanting to see her son meant walking a total of twenty four miles. This was not very easy to do after a long day of hard labor. The consequences for a slave running away from his or her master were brutal. His father was a white man and that is all the information given about him. Growing up as a slave, Douglass had no recollection of his age. By eavesdropping on one of his master’s conversation, he gathered that he was born around 1818. In the first five years of his life, Douglass had been living under the ownership of Captain Anthony. He was a very cruel man and his associates were just as bad. Living with Captain Anthony gave Douglass horrible experiences of the life of a slave. He had seen his master whip an elderly female slave until she was screaming with the most pain anyone could endure. The more the woman screamed, the harder he would whip.

After five years with Captain Anthony, Douglass began working on Colonel Edward Lloyd’s plantation. He was a very rich man. Tobacco, corn, and wheat were grown on Lloyd’s land. There were also many fruit trees and vegetable gardens. A few of the slaves trespassed and attempted to steal the fruits. Colonel Lloyd poured tar all around the gardens and trees so that when a slave was caught with tar on his clothes, he would be accused of stealing the fruits. Lloyd also owned several horse stables. He expected his horses to be perfectly groomed and well taken cared of. Douglass once saw a slave being beaten repeatedly by an overseer because the horse didn’t “perform” well enough. This was one example to show how unjust the slave drivers were. It was another reason to blame the slaves and fault them for the horse not performing as expected. Douglass often felt guilty for being of an African-American descent.

When Douglass was about seven or eight years old, he was sold out of Talbot, Maryland and bought in Baltimore, Maryland. He was then under the ownership of Hugh Auld and his wife Lucretia Auld who also happened to be Captain Anthony’s daughter. She was a very nice woman. When Douglass first arrived, she rewarded him with his own pair of trousers. Douglass noticed a huge difference for the better while living in Baltimore. In the first couple months while living there, Mrs. Auld began teaching Douglass the alphabets. He was soon able to sound the letters out and
read three and four letter words. Unfortunately, Mr. Auld found out about these teachings. He did not like it one bit. He along with many other slave owners feared that some day if the African American society would gain intelligence, they might run and be elected for the congress. Mrs. Auld immediately backed out of it. But this didn’t stop Douglass from learning. When the couple would be out of the house, he would sneak some books from the bookshelf and begin to read. Through his readings, he was finally beginning to understand the whole slavery act. In total secrecy, he reads the newspaper and other important information.

When Douglass was ten or eleven years old, he receives the news that Captain Anthony had died and that he would have to go back to Talbot Country and be divided along with all the other slaves between Anthony’s three children. Luckily for Douglass he was given right back to the Aulds.
Shortly after returning, Auld decides to lease Douglass to a poor man by the name of Edward Covey for one year. He was a harsh man and very cruel. He whipped Douglass a lot for very minor mistakes. Douglass worked very hard at Covey’s farm. He was tired of being constantly beaten and decides to run away from “home”. He went to the Auld resident to complain but is rejected and is sent back. He goes to another slave by the name of Sandy Jenkins. He stays at his house for the night and the next morning returns to the Covey residence. He was about to be tied and ready to be whipped when he finally stood up for himself and fought back. The two men were in a brawl for about two hours when finally Douglass backed off. Through this act, Douglass earned a lot more respect from his master.

On Christmas day 1833, Douglass is released from the Covey farm and is sent to live with Mr. William Freeland. Freeland was a much kinder man than Covey. This was the same farm that Sandy Jenkins, the man who sheltered Douglass, lived. Douglass began teaching a freed slave at the man’s house. This was illegal at the time to educate a black man. Douglass decides to escape, but someone rats him out and he is placed in jail with four other men. Soon after, Douglass is sent back to Baltimore to work for the Aulds. He was put to work at one of the docks to repair ships. One day, he was attacked by other white men, but there was nothing that could be done to prosecute them.

Douglass gets very anxious to escape, and in September, he sneaks out and gets to New York City. Not a lot of information is given on how he escaped in fear that he will give away possible routes for other slaves. Douglass met a freed black slave who advises him to go to Massachusetts to get a job. Douglass met up with his fiancée, Anne who was a free black woman. Together they went to Massachusetts. He is than recommended the name “Douglass” from a book. He then joins a magazine company and speaks to the public about his previous years as a slave. He lived the rest of his life a freeman with his wife.


Reactions
Overall, I thought this was a very interesting book. Like Anne Frank, this was a written account of Douglass’s hard life. Now I have different views on slavery. It was sad to hear about all the cruel experiences that this man went through. I enjoyed reading about his life and I think this book teaches one to realize that things may not be as bad as they think given the situations of hardships that others experience.