Escaping Freedom To Get Freedom
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Escaping Freedom to get Freedom
The nineteenth century Civil rights leader Frederick Douglass, is known as a hero for ending the slavery by the end of civil war, but most importantly he has an been ex-slave who suffered both physical and emotional abused when he was a the slave in south. Furthermore, he saw slaves getting beat up by their masters for rebelling against their order. Nevertheless, Douglass even discusses about the education during slavery in 19th century- how whites controlled education while people like Frederick Douglass endured slavery. He also talks about how he got his education, it was secretly teaching him self-how to read and write. After escaping to freedom Douglass argued about lots of factors that slaves went through, but one of the main factors were the womens right movement and Douglass proposed that the civil war could get the nation out of slavery and provide African American with full rights under the constitution.
In the Narrative of the Life of the Frederick Douglass, slaves were whipped almost every day in fact even Douglass was whipped by his master physically and emotionally. As a young boy, Douglass had never seen any one being whipped so badly, until one day while living on Colonel Lloyds Ned plantation; moreover, he saw his Aunt Hester being whipped for disobeying the order. “Aunt Hester went out one night, where or for what I do not know, and happened to be absent when her master desired her presence. He had ordered her not to go out in the evenings, and warned her that she must never let him catch her in the company of a young man, who was paying attention to her belonging to Colonel Lloyd” ( Narrative of Frederick Douglass page 23-24). He was shocked to see how she was being whipped and hid in the closet until the bloody transaction was over. He thought that it is going to be his turn next because it was his first time seen this bloody transaction.
As he grew, up seeing and as for the first time saw same one being whipped by his master; eventually, later he is whipped physically and emotionally abused by his master Edward Covey. Before being sold to Edward Covey plantation for one year, he was at Auld plantation were Douglass was been whipped almost every day because “Douglass had repeatedly allowed Aulds horse to escape, a clever ruse concocted by Douglass to receive full meal while out searching for the horse” (article page 11). At the Auld plantation, Douglass and other slaves would either beg from neighbors or steal food to acute their pain of hunger. In order to satisfy his hunger Douglass let Aulds horse escape, and while pretending to search for it he asked neighboring friends for food, and stole some too.
After being emotionally abused on Aulds plantation he was sold to Edward Covey for one year, where he was physically abused by him.” Several days later as descended from the loft, Covey attacked him with intention of tying his leg and whipping him. Mr. Covey called out for Hughes to help. While he was in the act of doing so, I watched my chance, and gave him a heavy kick close under the ribs. This kick sickened Hughes, so he will leave me in the hands of Master Mr. Covey. While I seized him with both collar, and brought him by a sudden snatch to the ground. Covey asked Bill for help and bill said his master hired him to work for him not whipping Douglass. Nearly two hours he left Covey and Douglass fight”: (Narrative of Frederick Douglass page 81-82). Sandy gave Douglass a root to protect him from being whipped by Covey, which led to the battle between Covey and Douglass; this was the major battle that gave Douglass a turning point in his life as a slave. Douglass at first thought roots helped him from being whipped by Mr. Covey but instead the roots helped him fight against Mr. Covey.
As known for centuries, that Frederick Douglass thought him self-how to read and write secretly and it was known to be a crime for African Americans to read and write and they could be punished with death. While in Baltimore Douglass really desired to learn how to read and write. He found many occasions to improve his English skills; fortunately, in 1826 he got lucky that Sophia Auld decided to help him with his learning. “A common but much criticized behavior in the white community, teaching slave to read and write was fought with potential problems, as Douglass quickly understood. After few weeks in the Auld home, Douglass, who naturally possessed a sharp memory and brilliant mind, mastered the A, B, and Cs and learned how to spell the words of three or four letters”.(Article page 7) Sophia was so proud of her accomplishment in training Douglass, not knowing the consequences she told her husband about their work. Having more experience Sophias husband foreboded her from teaching him because he had lived with Douglass for several years, with his father at Colonel Lloyds plantation.
Nevertheless, Auld told his wife Sophia “if you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell” (article page 8). Douglass goes by arguing that the whites in the community looked at blacks as being their slaves for life. Even more whites only wanted slaves to obey their masters and do as they were told to do because whites in the south knew that if you were going to let blacks get the education they will escape slavery or they could even rebel against their master. As Sophias husband said, “Education will spoil the best out of niggers”.
“By the time the younger master Thomas Auld, had learned writing and brought the discarded copybooks home. While the white families were gone, the houseboy Douglass would spend his time copying in the margins of the books. He later recalled with pride: “thus, after a long, tedious effort for years,