Chapter Summary Of Frederick Douglas's 'An American Slave'

Samantha Havier

RDG091

Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Summaries:

Chapter One: Frederick Douglass was born a half white and half black slave, and was separated from his mother no long after birth. As a child he witnessed horrific things that happened to not only him but to his Aunt Hester as well. Douglass did not know how old he was and only knew he was about seventeen around 1835. Frederick never got to know his mother. He would remember meeting her several times. She would walk twelve miles after a long day of working in the fields. Lay with him until he would fall asleep and would be gone before he woke up. Frederick later found out that his mother had died and did not know about it until after it had happened. His master told

They had all made a plan to escape and make their way up to Maryland. It was a week before their journey was about to begin. And the night before they were set to leave, somethings happened that they did not expect. They went about their mornings by going to the fields and was later questioned by the police and were tied up and taken to jail. They were told they were arrested for trying to escape from their owners. They were left there for a week, and the other slaves were picked up by their owners but Douglass was still in jail. Thought that he would be sold back into slavery or kept in jail, his master Thomas had showed up when he least expected

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass describes three events that were especially significant in his progress from slavery to freedom. When Hugh Auld forbade his wife Sofia to teach Douglass how to read, the action started Douglass on the path to freedom. Douglass used his friends that he made in the streets to help him read. Although they were against it, he convinced them to help him. When Douglass would run errands he would do it fast and have extra time to have a reading lesson before returning back home. He use to take bread for those who knew how to read but would starve. In exchange for a lesson they would give bread. When he was sent to Edward Covey to be “broken,” Douglass took another step toward eventual freedom. When he was told to get up after trying again and again. Frederick a=made the choice to escape for his freedom by making a dash for the woods. And while he went back to his masters’, whom told him he had to return or else he will miss out on a years’ worth of money. Although he was almost beaten by Hughes and Covey, he finally took a stand for himself toward