“A battle lost or won is easily described, understood and appreciated, but the moral growth of a nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it.” – Frederick Douglass
In February 1818, Frederick Douglass was born into slavery as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey to Harriet Bailey, on Colonel Lloyd plantation. The identify of his father is unknown, but it is believed to be Captain Aaron Anthony, a slaveholder. During this time, he was sent to be raised by his grandparents. Six years later in 1824, Frederick was sent to St. Michaels, Maryland to work on the Lloyd plantation which happened to owned by Aaron Anthony. Frederick was auctioned off when he was eight and sent to Baltimore in 1826, after his mother had passed away.
On this plantation, he has a new slave master, Hugh Auld. Douglass’s job was to look after Auld’s son, Tommy and to work as a houseboy for Auld’s wife, Sophia. At this time, he learned …show more content…
In 1841, William Coffin had invited Frederick to speak at a convention in Nantucket. This is when he became an agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society. Douglass wrote his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, in 1845. This book became a number 1 seller in the United States, many said that he was crazy for writing it because he was still a runaway slave, but he found freedom and he didn’t care. After more published and revised works, he decided it was time to travel to a place where he could avoid getting captured again. He traveled to Ireland and Britain, where he stayed for 2 years. In 1847, Douglass’s British supporters gathered up enough money to purchase his legal freedom and he was able to return to the United States as a free