Frederick Douglass Paper

1.A In February of 1818, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in Talbot County, Maryland. He was born in his grandmother’s cabin, along Tuckahoe creek, to his mother Harriet Bailey. 1.B Harriet Bailey was a slave therefore when she gave birth to her child he also became a slave. Frederick’s mother was an African American while his father’s name was never known it was a known fact that he was a white man. Due to his 2. white father, black mother, and the American Indian he had from his grandmother, he was in fact a mulatto. As a child it was rumored that Frederick’s master was also his father. This was very common back then for the masters to satisfy themselves through their slaves. Children that were fathered by their owner were a constant offense to their mistress because the 4. master may show favor to his children that are not hers. These children could never please the mistress and she enjoyed them getting into trouble. Like most slaves when Frederick was born he was 3.A taken from his mother at only a few weeks old. Throughout his childhood 3.C he saw his mother very few times, and only during the night. When he was seven years old his mother died, and he was not allowed to be present at the end of her life. After he was taken from his parents he spent the 3.B early years of his life with his grandparents and with his aunt. Growing up Frederick Douglass had two masters, Captain Anthony and Colonel Lloyd. While living on these plantations there were various rules and ways that things happened. Slaves weren’t given the same rules as white people. Not only did slaves have little freedom, but they were also limited to the amount of food and clothing they were given. 5.A.1 eight pounds of meat and one bushel of corn meal per month. 5.A.2 “two coarse linen shirts, one pair of linen trousers, like the shirts, one jacket, one pair of trousers for winter, made of coarse negro cloth, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes; the whole of which could not

Cited: Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003. Print.