Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey - Essay Example

Ganadores SUMMARY OF THE NARRATIVE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in Holmes Hill Farm, Talbot County, Maryland. He is a son of a slave woman named Harriet Bailey. His father is a white man by which he knew only by his name, Master Aaron Anthony. Being a son of a slave, it was stated within the law in their time that anyone who had been born by a slave woman should follow the condition of their mothers. For this reason, Frederick had no choice but to become a slave like his mother. In Frederick's twelfth month, necessity called that he must be left behind by his mother at a young age, under the guidance of his grandmother who is at that time too old enough for field labor. His mother died without him knowing her well. At the age of seven, his mother's body was found dead in one of Frederick master's farm, near Lee's Mill. Having no slight intimation with his mother, he accepted her death like an ordinary death of a stranger, with no spark of pain in his heart. His first master was Captain Anthony. People by his time say that his master is his father by which he did not confirm to be a fact. Captain Anthony is a clerk and superintendent of Colonel Edward Lloyd. This man owns from three to four hundred slaves in his plantation. Every month the slaves receive their monthly allowance of food - eight pounds of pork or fish, and one bushel of corn. Aside from this, they also receive a yearly clothing of two coarse linen shirts and one pair of shoes. At his early age, Frederick witnessed the unlawful deeds being reaped by the slaves from the hands of slaveholders. Most of the slaves are being beaten, not given enough salary, and some died with all cruelty; no justice had been applied for their death. It was a common saying in his time that "it was worth a half-cent to kill a nigger, and a half-cent to bury one." Ganadores 2 Just when he thought he is going to spend his entire life under the agony of slavery, suddenly hope came his way upon knowing that he was allowed by Captain Anthony to stay in Baltimore with Mr. Hugh Auld. He was between the age of seven and eight that time. By the time Frederick reached Mr. and Mrs. Auld's house, he had felt the warmest welcome he had ever experienced in his entire life. This was the first time he had ever seen the most pleasant faces of slaveholders. The city slave, unlike the slaves in the plantation, is almost a freeman. His stay to this place gave him the opportunity to learn the basics of English alphabet, through the help of Sophia Auld, his new mistress. But then, when her husband found out what she was doing, she had been forbidden to teach Frederick, for the reason that according to him, "learning would spoil the best nigger in the world." Frederick this time has to learn reading in his own perseverance, and to bring his dream into reality, he made friends with the white boys whom he encountered in the street that later on helped him succeed in learning to read. At the age of ten or eleven, he returned to his hometown, Holmes Hill Farm. This is because his master, Captain Anthony, died and all the slaves, including him have to be divided between his master's children, Mrs. Lucretia and Mr. Andrew. During this process, slaves were scrutinized before the division. No one wished to be a slave for Mr. Andrew for he is cruel and merciless like all other masters. Lucky enough, Frederick was chosen to be a slave for Mrs. Lucretia's and was sent back to Baltimore. Upon reaching the age when he could give dates, Frederick has left Baltimore to live with Master Thomas in March 1832. This time, he was sent to a guy named Mr. Covey. This guy claims to be religious, but has no heart for his slaves. He finds pleasures in whipping them all the time, and Frederick, being one of the slaves, did not escape this. He was beaten almost everyday until the time he thought it would be a benefit to take his own life. But the Ganadores 3 hope of freedom still lingers in his mind that stopped him from committing suicide and pushed him to pursue his journey of serving his severely cruel master. After his term of service with Mr. Covey, Frederick was hired by Mr. Hugh to other men. Having the small streak of freedom in his present state, Fred took the opportunity of teaching other slaves how to read and write. This act had been known to other slaves in the land and were gathered from time to time to learn the alphabet from Frederick. These slaves had become extremely close to Frederick's heart that made them believe that they would die for one another. Frederick had felt an immeasurable joy of imparting his knowledge to his fellow slaves. The strong desire for freedom came into Frederick's heart once again that made him encourage other slaves to escape into the north to find their long awaited liberty. This attempt resulted for him to be cast in jail. There was no one to help him, until to his surprise came Mr. Auld releasing him from jail and taking him back to Baltimore. He had waited for the perfect chance for his second attempt to escape and refused to involve no one but himself. At last, he succeeded to break the chain of his slavery when he reached New York on September 3, 1838. It was a whole new world for him, seeing white people all over the place, in the absence of slaves being torn or beaten to death. He found a friend in New York in the person of Mr. David Ruggles who helped him and gave him shelter. Not long enough after his escape from slavery, he married Anna Murray, a free slave. His name was then changed to Frederick Douglass. By this time, Frederick was given the freedom of having the job at his own choice. This had been the start of his perfect realization of liberty. Frederick participated and led various institutions in his time. He had been an agent for the Bristol Anti-Slavery Society teaching against slavery. He supported the Women's Rights Convention and had been the Ganadores 4 only male who voted in favor of it. He was appointed as a vice-presidential candidate at the Liberal Party convention. He served as a recruiter for the 54Th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. He was appointed as an Assistant Secretary to the Commission of Inquiry. He had been nominated in Equal Rights Party as vice-president. Became a president of Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. An appointed US Marshall of the District of Columbia. He was appointed as Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia. Also appointed as Charge d'Affaires for Santo Domingo and Minister Resident, and Consul General to Haiti by President Harrison. Frederick's life ended through a heart attack in his home in Cedar Hill, Anacostia located in Washington, DC. His raiment was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY. Works Cited Literature at Sunsite. 2 April 1997. Project Gutenberg. 1 August 2006. Roger Heimstra's Web Page. 1 August 2006. Compiled by Shirley A. Rowser. 8 August 2006. Read More