Frederick Bailey, now referred to as Frederick Douglass is my grandson. He wrote a narrative of his life in 1845, discussing what life was like as an American slave. Within the personal narrative, Douglass expressed life from his perspective and from what he believed it to be. He also described his lack of knowledge about his background, stating that he didn’t actually know his birthday, age, nor father. In addition, Frederick had never had a real relationship with his mother and he was around ten when she died. Seeming as though Frederick had no tangible relationship with his mother or father, he developed a relationship with me, his grandmother. I thing I can say about Frederick is that he was always curious about things. After a while, Douglass
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Later, Frederick found out that what he had written in his narrative about my last years was not true. Truth is, only I can describe what really occurred during this time in my life in my personal narrative, a response to Frederick’s narrative.
A Response Narrative from the perspective of Frederick’s Grandmother
I am Betsy Bailey, the grandmother of Frederick Douglass. Many people learned about my relationship with Frederick within his narrative, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”. Many also learned from the narrative that Frederick initially lived with me, due to the fact that his mother was taken away from him as an infant. His mother became pregnant and gave birth to him, but unfortunately she was denied the right to raise him herself. As a result, Frederick lacked that tangible comfort of his mother as a child, after all, this was something that was normal in slave life. There were many situations when mothers could not raise their own born. Suddenly, I remember there were nights when Frederick’s mother would visit him while it was dark or while he was sleeping, therefore Frederick only remembers her in those dark moments. In fact, in his narrative, he spoke about not being …show more content…
His demeanor towards slavery was strict and consistent. Later on his master had passed away with no will and the current estate had to be shared. Frederick had to be sent to have a valuation and this is when he returned to his place of birth. Luckily, Frederick was able to return back to Baltimore belonging to Mrs. Lucretia. Frederick discussed how happy this made him. Unfortunately, for my grandson, Mrs. Lucretia died. Frederick’s happy day had turned upside again. Now with all the deaths, all belongings and slaves of old master became possession of complete strangers. At this point, things were a bit chaotic and Frederick grew worried about the outcome. What eventually happened was all slaves had to be sold, this meant horror for Frederick. Frederick grew concerned for me too, being that I am elderly and have outlived many people during Frederick’s life. At this point, Frederick is facing losing his only real relationship left, his grandmother. I am one to say that I have served old master for many years. In fact Frederick wrote this is his own narrative (1037), “She has served old master from youth to old age. She had been the source of all his wealth….she had become a great grandmother in his service”. All those things are quite true. My service was faithful and because of my service, I was not left for dead, like Frederick initially suggested. Although, I was not given the opportunity
Later, Frederick found out that what he had written in his narrative about my last years was not true. Truth is, only I can describe what really occurred during this time in my life in my personal narrative, a response to Frederick’s narrative.
A Response Narrative from the perspective of Frederick’s Grandmother
I am Betsy Bailey, the grandmother of Frederick Douglass. Many people learned about my relationship with Frederick within his narrative, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”. Many also learned from the narrative that Frederick initially lived with me, due to the fact that his mother was taken away from him as an infant. His mother became pregnant and gave birth to him, but unfortunately she was denied the right to raise him herself. As a result, Frederick lacked that tangible comfort of his mother as a child, after all, this was something that was normal in slave life. There were many situations when mothers could not raise their own born. Suddenly, I remember there were nights when Frederick’s mother would visit him while it was dark or while he was sleeping, therefore Frederick only remembers her in those dark moments. In fact, in his narrative, he spoke about not being …show more content…
His demeanor towards slavery was strict and consistent. Later on his master had passed away with no will and the current estate had to be shared. Frederick had to be sent to have a valuation and this is when he returned to his place of birth. Luckily, Frederick was able to return back to Baltimore belonging to Mrs. Lucretia. Frederick discussed how happy this made him. Unfortunately, for my grandson, Mrs. Lucretia died. Frederick’s happy day had turned upside again. Now with all the deaths, all belongings and slaves of old master became possession of complete strangers. At this point, things were a bit chaotic and Frederick grew worried about the outcome. What eventually happened was all slaves had to be sold, this meant horror for Frederick. Frederick grew concerned for me too, being that I am elderly and have outlived many people during Frederick’s life. At this point, Frederick is facing losing his only real relationship left, his grandmother. I am one to say that I have served old master for many years. In fact Frederick wrote this is his own narrative (1037), “She has served old master from youth to old age. She had been the source of all his wealth….she had become a great grandmother in his service”. All those things are quite true. My service was faithful and because of my service, I was not left for dead, like Frederick initially suggested. Although, I was not given the opportunity