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Summary Of 'Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass'

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Dominic Bargardi
Mr. Wilkins
AP US History
September 8, 2015
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave In the book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave a young African American slave talks about his life growing up. He first explains that he does not know his age. Slaves back in the day were not allowed to know their own age. The slaver owners believed that the less the slaves knew the better. Along with not knowing his age, Douglass was also unaware of who his father was. Douglass knows that his father was white and some believe it was his slave owner, Mr. Anthony. His mom was named Harriet Bailey. He was separated from her as an infant and is the main reason he had little emotional connection with her. …show more content…
He then goes on to talk about necessities that they receive. Each slave receives one blanket but no bed. They also get a small amount of pork or fish and cornmeal every month. Douglass then talks about the songs that the slaves sing. As a kid he first sees the songs as something happy that the slaves do to forget about their lives. When he gets older and is more educated he realizes the songs are really just hidden ways for the slaves to express their sorrow. Douglass compares the slaves singing the songs to crying. Once he turns 7 or 8 Douglass is sent to live with the Auld family. He works inside and helps care for Thomas, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Although Mr. Auld never treats Douglass well, his wife does. She feels bad that African Americans are not educated and decided that she will teach him. Douglass learns the basic skills of how to read and write but before long Mr. Auld scolds Mrs. Auld for educating a slave. He explains why it is bad for slaves to learn how to read and write. He says that it makes them feel that they deserve more. They think they are being treated even more poorly than they were before and may influence them to start an uprising. Although his lessons with Mrs. Auld

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