It was also fortunate that Sophia Auld, the sister-in-law of Thomas Auld, decided to raise Douglass as if he were one of her own children. This was an extremely fortunate move, since, as Douglass recognized, city slaves were treated almost like freemen compared to the inhuman hardships inflicted upon slaves in the countryside. Tragically, it was also common for mothers and their children to be separated, and when Douglass was just six years old, he was taken from his mother to work for his owner’s son-in-law, Thomas Auld.ĭouglass moved again when he was eight years old, this time along with the Auld family as they relocated to the city of Baltimore, Maryland. And since it was commonplace for slaves to be raped by their masters, Douglass's owner may well have been his father, although this is not certain. The fact that his mother was a young slave working on the farm meant Douglass was born a slave as well. The remarkable life of Frederick Douglass began on a Maryland farm, where he was born in February of 1818.

the tragic circumstances of his first wife’s death.how a trip to Europe led to his legal freedom in the US and.how Douglass secretly continued his education while a slave.

In this summary of Frederick Douglass by David W. His dream of a nation that would fulfill its promise of equality for all remains a guiding light for many people to this day. He relayed to people around the world his first-hand account of the horrors of slavery, and yet he remained convinced that America could overcome this dark part of its history. What remains undeniable is that Douglass set a high bar for the civil rights leaders who followed. But they also delve into some of the more controversial aspects of Douglass’s life, including his falling-out with the leaders of the women's suffrage movement. In these biographical book summarys, we get to know how Frederick Douglass reached such stature in American politics and what made him the icon he is today. Indeed, few people spoke with such authority, clarity and eloquence on matters of civil rights and why America could not survive as long as slavery existed. Here was a man who was born a slave and yet rose to such prominence that he became a respected figure in Abraham Lincoln’s Republican Party. The name Frederick Douglass looms large in the history of the United States, and for good reason.

Frederick douglass book by david blight