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Why Did Frederick Douglass Escape

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Frederick Douglas is one of the most well-known former slaves in US history as he risked his life by escaping from slavery, and became one of the smartest men of his time. Born on a Maryland plantation in 1817, Douglas started planning his escape from slavery around the age of 21-years. In order to trick the bounty hunters, Douglas changed his name to Frederick Bailey on September 3, 1838. He also decided to disguise himself as a sailor, wearing a red shirt, a tarpaulin hat, and a black scarf tied loosely around his neck what he vividly describes that his clothes were only enough to cover the top half of his body (Douglass 276). He was a very smart man to have thought of these disguises and tricks to successfully escape slavery. After escaping slavery, Frederick Douglas wrote about his escape in his autobiography. Frederick Douglass described his escape on a train ride from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Douglass autobiography was written seven years later after his escape in 1845, some people thought that Douglass’s escape was too good for him to be a …show more content…

Douglass learned to read and write when he was living in the Auld’s household for seven years and being tutored by Mrs. Auld who taught him how to spell (Douglass 259). A lesson that we can all learned from Frederick Douglass enduring the Legacies of slavery in today's society is being able to face the world and to do what he did to fight for what we believe in as people of color. Instead of letting people use us as property and dehumanize colored Americans, because Douglass spent his life trying to get end slavery so that the world would be better off without colored people being held in captivity. It seemed like Douglass did not want others to go through what he went through as a slave not being able to be

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Fredrick Douglass was born Fredrick Augustus Washington Bailey, in Maryland in 1818 to Harriet Bailey. There were two mysteries surrounding Fredrick’s early life: one, the actual date of his birth and two, the identity of his father. Even though his father has not been confirmed, it is believed that Douglass’ father was Harriet’s slave master. At the very tender age of ten, Douglass’ mother died suddenly. Shortly after her death, Fredrick was sold to Hugh Auld, where he began working on his plantation.

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Frederick Douglass the man, the steamroller, the one who paved the way for African Americans. Douglas was an escaped slave. He paved the way for many people. The African American society would not be where we are today without the works and the upstanding against the civil rights. Self-teaching and strong will, and his faith in religion allowed Frederick Douglas the strength and will power to never give up.

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689 Words | 3 Pages

Slaves were not supposed to be able to read or write and this made it hard. His mistress always got mad anytime she saw him reading. It was hard for him to accept the things he had read since they gave him more details about his race and what he was going through. Douglass learning how to read and write caused him to deal with his readings emotionally and mentally. Alexie thought that him learning how to read made him smart and he was very proud of doing so.

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1062 Words | 5 Pages

After a while he was able to write the four letters with ease and wanted to learn more. He then later challenged a boy who he knew could write, that he could write just as well as he. So after they had their little showdown, Douglass received many great lessons he would have not been able to receive anywhere else. In the excerpt Douglass says “I continued by copying the advanced spelling words in Webster’s Spelling Book until I could make them all without looking at the book.” He was so determined to be literate he would stop at nothing, he went out of his way to find other means of learning.

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680 Words | 3 Pages

1 Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass Close Panel Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass Originally published: Close Panel 1845 Author: 2 Frederick Douglass Genre: Close Panel Autobiography Followed by: 1 My Bondage and My Freedom Country: Close Panel United States of America Subject: Civil and political rights 3 Douglass was born in Talbot County, Maryland, though he does not know the year, as most slaves are not allowed to know their ages. Close Panel 4 He was given his name by his mother, Harriet Bailey. Close Panel After escaping to the North years later, he took the surname Douglass, having already dropped his two middle names. He wrote of his earliest times with his mother.

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In his last chapter he doesn’t fully reveal the details and facts of his escape. The reason for this is that the individuals who helped him to escape would have been threatened and he cared too much for them. He also didn’t want to make it more difficult for other slaves to escape, because the way he escaped is still in use by some other slaves. Furthermore I believe if the masters would have known the escape plan, then they might would have guarded the slaves with more care and suspicious. Of course the reader was waiting for him to reveal his escape, but to withhold some information in this chapter is in my opinion a smart move from Douglass.

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844 Words | 4 Pages

Fredrick Douglass does not actually tell us exactly how he escaped in detail to the North from slavery because he does not want to give any slave masters information. Which makes sense because, he would not like to be giving slave owners an upper hand on slaves that do try to escape. One of the most important factors to Fredrick Douglass gaining his freedom is when he moved to Baltimore. I believe that is where his quest for freedom began.

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414 Words | 2 Pages

Frederick Douglass, author of the narrative by the same name, was a slave that was not physically free, but he was mentally. While other slaves did not realize that what was going on was wrong, Douglass did. He used his mentally freedom to become free physically free as well. Douglass’ hardships started the day he was born. He was born into slavery, like other African-Americans, and was constantly treated like dirt.

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1020 Words | 5 Pages

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, better known as Frederick Douglass, was an Af-rican - American abolitionist. He is a historic figure in the black community; he not only escaped slavery, he also wrote many autobiographies about his experience as a slave. He wrote and spoke about slavery, but he also talked about a wide range of ideas ranging from peace and, land re-form to women’s right. He generally spoke and wrote about times during the Civil War in which most of his life changing events happened.

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Frederick Douglass in his narrative “Why I learned to Read and Write” demonstrates how he surpassed many obstacles along the way towards getting an education. These obstacles not only shaped Frederick’s outlook on life but also influenced him in his learning to read and write. Frederick’s main challenge was that of not being an owner of his person but rather a slave and a property to someone else. Frederick Douglass lived in the time when slavery was still taking place and slaveholders viewed slavery and education as incompatible. The slave system didn’t allow mental or physical freedom for slaves; slaveholders were to keep the apt appearance and slaves were to remain ignorant.

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392 Words | 2 Pages

The legendary abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass was one of the most important social reformers of the nineteenth century. Being born into slavery on a Maryland Eastern Shore plantation to his mother, Harriet Bailey, and a white man, most likely Douglass’s first master was the starting point of his rise against the enslavement of African-Americans. Nearly 200 years after Douglass’s birth and 122 years after his death, The social activist’s name and accomplishments continue to inspire the progression of African-American youth in modern society. Through his ability to overcome obstacles, his strive for a better life through education, and his success despite humble beginnings, Frederick Douglass’s aspirations stretched his influence through

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560 Words | 3 Pages

Although Frederick Douglass was not expected to be literate, he taught himself how because he believed that education should be for everyone, not just a few privileged children. Frederick Douglass was a slave for life in the southern United States before the Civil War. He had no regular teacher because, at that time, most slave owners did not believe that their slaves should be taught to read and write. White slave owners thought that if slaves knew how to read, they would go against their owners and fight against slavery.

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1727 Words | 7 Pages

With all the knowledge he was gaining, he began to comprehend everything around him. The things he was learning fascinated him, but the “more [he] read, the more [he] was led to abhor and detest [his] enslavers”(Douglass 35); however, that should not be viewed as a negative affect but a positive one. No one should want to be deceived for their entire life. This hatred that he built up motivated him to continue to further educate himself. As a result, he later motivated other slaves to earn an education by having “[availed] themselves to [an] opportunity to learn to read” (Douglass 69) by Douglass teaching them every Sunday.

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970 Words | 4 Pages

Every slave’s journey to freedom is imbued with hopes, struggles and triumph. Each individual narrative complex and intriguing. The world is blessed to have one of those distinct stories written by an educated former slave that went by the name Frederick Douglass. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, Douglass reminisces on his life and the countless trials that he had to surpass throughout the years to become a free African American.

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949 Words | 4 Pages

Douglass understood that illiteracy was a tool used by the white slave owners to keep full hands on their slaves. He also understood that ability to be literacy would be the next thing to freedom. Literacy had allowed him to review his social position, it caused him a lot of pain because he understood that he is lifetime slave in white society. Illiteracy allowed

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