As the agriculture production was in great demand in America, white men used indentured servant to cheaply produce the products they needed. However, during this time, slaves started to become more common than indentured servants because, “As Africans, they could not claim the protections of English common law. Slaves’ terms of service never expired…” (Foner, p. 80). This made white men desire to have slaves who they could control and treat however they pleased for however long they wanted. Taking a look at The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, it is easy to see the harsh conditions that slaves, especially Frederick Douglass, encountered during this era. Douglass’ writing also reveals how female slaves were treated differently than …show more content…
Before moving to Baltimore to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, Frederick Douglass had no sense of how to read or write and he did not have an eagerness to learn. Once he was living in Baltimore, Mrs. Auld, a free white women who seemed to be free of the evils of slavery, was very kind and she started to teach Frederick the alphabet and other small words, which is an example of how Mrs. Auld was very different from other white women of her time. However, once her husband found out what his wife was doing, he immediately put a stop to it. Mr. Auld said, that if she would teach slaves to read, “There will be no keeping him” (Douglass, p. 42). Upon learning to read small words from Mrs. Auld, a fire was set in Frederick that gave him hope and determination to continue learning, no matter the consequences. While still living in Baltimore, Frederick continued to development new ways to learn to read. One strategy he used, was making friends with white boys who he would meet when running errands for his master. He would often give them bread and in return, they would give him “bread of knowledge” (Douglass, p. 49). This exchange helped Frederick Douglass succeed in learning to read, which increased the hope in his heart that he would one day be a free