Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1818. He barely knew his mother, who lived on a different plantation and died when he was a young child and never discovered the identity of his father. When he turned eight years old, his slaveowner hired him out to work as a body servant in Baltimore. At an early age, Frederick realized there was a connection between literacy and freedom. Not allowed to attend school, he taught himself to read and write in the streets of Baltimore.

When Frederick was fifteen, his slaveowner sent him back to the Eastern Shore to labor as a fieldhand. Frederick rebelled intensely. He educated other slaves, physically fought back against a "slave-breaker," and plotted an unsuccessful escape. Frustrated, his slaveowner returned him to Baltimore. This time, Frederick met a young free black woman named Anna Murray, who agreed to help him escape.

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