In the Star-Spangled Banner, a song written solely to represent the freedom of the Unites States, it specifically states, “For the land of the free and the home of the brave.” So, why did being brave in the home of the brave cause many slaves to be punished and broken down to believe they were worth nothing? Why were slaves not free in the land of the free? How did some slaves, such as Frederick Douglass, find freedom, while others never even came close? There are many factors that contribute to Douglass’ freedom but some main ones are that he realized it was not impossible, he had a want for more in his life, and he had strong determination that came from what he saw and experienced. These three things were an aid in creating a large bridge between slavery for life and freedom for life. For the first reason why Frederick Douglass found freedom, it was because he became aware that freedom was a possible thing and that it was much closer than he thought. After fighting Mr. Covey, Douglass realized that he was physically stronger than his master. He wasn’t just a weak slave and his master did …show more content…
For instance, he saw and heard how slavery affected many people he cared about. His own mother was separated from him as a baby, but that never stopped her from walked for miles and hours to see him for a brief time. Her willpower to see him even though she wasn’t supposed to showed Douglass what determination was at a young age. He also saw his Aunt Hester be painfully whipped by her master right in front of him which left him scarred and with a realization of how evil slavery is at a young age. His grandmother was a good slave for her entire life and she still was hardly given freedom until she reached an old age. This made Douglass see that if he wanted out of slavery, he had to escape it himself instead of waiting for the white men to give it to