Frederick Douglass
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, later known as Frederick Douglass, was born in February 1818 near Easton, Maryland. He was the son of Harriet Bailey, a slave. Captain Aaron Anthony claimed ownership of Douglass.
Douglass spent his early childhood in a cabin with his grandmother Betsey. His mother was hired out and he only saw her on rare visits. In 1824, Douglass was separated from his grandmother and taken to live on the large plantation of Colonel Edward Lloyd, where Captain Aaron Anthony worked. In 1826, he was sent to Baltimore, Maryland to live with Hugh and Sophia Auld, in-laws of Captain Anthony's daughter.
Douglass lived in Baltimore from 1826 until 1833, where his first job as a child was to look after the Aulds' son, Tommy. While he was in Baltimore, Douglass learned to read and write. Sophia Auld taught him until her husband forbade it. After that, Douglass taught himself in secret.
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass portrait
English: Portrait of Frederick Douglass as a young...In 1833, Douglass was taken from Baltimore and brought to St. Michael's, Maryland by his master, Thomas Auld (son-in-law to Captain Anthony, who was now deceased). While there, Douglass organized secret schools for slaves and refused to submit to whipping. One of the schools was broken up by a mob, and he was hired out to farmers known as "slave breakers," who sought to control his rebellious activities. Yet he continued to defy his slave status. In 1836, he planned to escape but was caught, imprisoned, and eventually sent back to Thomas Auld.
After his failed escape attempt and imprisonment, Douglass was sent back by Auld to Baltimore. There, he was hired out to a local shipyard to learn the trade of a caulker. He joined an improvement society of free black caulkers and attempted, unsuccessfully, to buy his own freedom.
In 1837, he...