The Life and Story of Frederick Douglass

The life and story of Frederick Douglass is truly incredible. The legend of Douglass still resonates across this country. A biracial slave who only saw his mother a handful of times and never knew the true identity of his father, other than the fact that he was undoubtedly white. In an effort to escape bondage, with some help from his mistress he taught himself to write. These are just some of the feats and obstacles he had overcome through out his eventful life.

At a very young age Douglass was shown the harsh and cruel way of slavery. His Aunt Hester was to not be caught in the presence of another young man besides Mr. Plummer. She was punished for violating this and the young Douglass explained the process …… he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered in blood. (Douglass 44). He saw the pleasure the masters took in whipping the slaves. The mental abuse and manipulation slaves faced on a daily basis led to many of them accepting the state of bondage. Douglass himself talks about his battle with anxiety.

There for awhile he thought freedom and liberty to far fetched but eventually accepted death over meaningless bondage. Douglass took the leap, disguising himself as a sailor and making it to the free state of new york, he briefly described the journey as I left my chains, and succeeded in reaching New York without the slightest interruption of any kind. (Douglass 108).
Douglass in all, spent twenty years in slavery and nine as a fugitive slave. Despite all the obstacles and roadblocks in his way he was a great intellectual. William Lloyd Garrison a powerful intellectual himself saw Douglass speak at a convention and was astounded. He noted that Douglass exemplified great emotion and powerful impression (Garrison 31). This was one of many great compliments and shows what kind of speaker and man Frederick Douglass was to the 19th century.