Frederick Douglass

Slavery in North American began in 1619, when African's began to be shipped to North America as slaves. The South was primarily where most of the slaves were, because huge plantations produced cotton and other crops. Several slaves became servants, while the majority of slaves worked on plantations or in mines. In the 1800's plantation slaves were labeled as "field hands" or sometimes "field Negro". There were various kinds of slaves, and the field hands worked the longest. The house slaves or "house Negro" worked as servants in their master's homes, cooking, or doing the laundry. Although slavery was appalling as a whole, some slave owners treated their slaves well by giving them cash and gifts for doing a good job. Other slave owners chastised their slaves or threatened them. The slaves that worked on farms or in mines were usually over-worked and punished, and some house slaves were treated like family to the slave owner's. Occasionally slaves were unconfined from slavery subsequent to the death or their owner when the owner died leaving a will stating they were free because of their hard work.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in February of 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland. In 1838 following his escaped from slavery he changed his name to Frederick Douglass to protect himself. Although he was now located in New York City, he was still Hugh Auld's property, who was his former slave owner. Douglass's mother was a slave, her name was Harriet Bailey. He was separated from his mother before he was a year old, which was common in the slavery system. His grandmother Betsy Bailey raised Douglass for the first six years of his life. Douglass was sent to his master, Aaron Anthony, at the age of six. In 1833 Douglass was sent to Edward Covey, a well known "slave-breaker". One climactic moment is the incident with Edward Covey, when rather than giving in; Douglass gets into a lengthy physical fight with Edward Covey. Edward had a history of beating Douglass viciously. In most cases, slavery did not prove as injurious to the white owners as it was to slaves...