Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas: Slave Treatment

Shea McTighe

Miss Schmidt

English 11

November 20, 2016

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Growing up as a slave in America in the 1800s, no experience was exactly identical. Here are

three separate lives that faced slavery in different ways. Unsure of when he was born, Frederick

Douglass narrowed his birth year down to the year of 1835. In the Narrative of the Life of

Frederick Douglass, he says, The nearest estimate I can give, makes me now between 27 and 28

years of age. I come to this hearing my master say, sometime during 1835 (Douglass 1). This

quote introduces Frederick in his narrative and shows how being born a slave, you receive no

knowledge of your prior family or time period. Similar to Douglass, Harriet Tubman was also a

slave and unsure of when she was exactly born, as well. It is estimated around 1820 (pbs.org).

Meanwhile, Dred Scott was born in 1795 in Virginia (historynet.com). These three African

Americans have different experiences growing up a slave but, they all managed to make an

infamous name for themselves.

By educating himself, Douglass escaped slavery at the age of 20 and went on to become an

author and activist. Mrs. Sophia Auld, was his owner and began teaching Douglass the alphabet

and small words as he was a servant on her property with her husband, Mr. Hugh Auld. Once her

husband discovered what she was doing, Douglass overheard him say to his wife: It would

forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable and of no value to his

master. As to himself, it could do him no good but a great deal of harm (Douglass 48). These

words suggested that slaves have no value or worth with knowledge.

In the meantime, Tubman did not like to be considered property, and as a slave resolved to run

away from her owners plantation (www.pbs.org). Through perseverance and knowledge of
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following the north star, she set out on foot, and made her way to Pennsylvania from the South.

After gaining freedom, she traveled back to the South 19 times to free family and other slaves. At

one point, there was a warrant out for her, for $40,000 (pbs.org). Ignoring the warrant and

consequences, she continued to aid others to freedom.

For Dred Scott, he served his slavery in a few states, such as Illinois, Louisiana and Missouri to

the same owner that moved around the country. Once his owner died, he filed for freedom. After

much effort and time, he was declared a free man. However, when the Missouri Compromise

was created, his freedom was taken away because the color of his skin. Thus, he filed lawsuits

against the government. In March 1857, the majority opinion stated that because of Scotts race

he was not a citizen and had no right to sue under the Constitution (historynet.com). He was

only able to gain freedom when an abolitionist Massachusetts Congressman paid for his lawyer

fees and purchased him as property (historynet.com).

In summation, these three African Americans had different paths, experiences and trials.

However, they impacted the country by improving their lives and sharing in their successes. In

fact, Douglass referenced Tubman as a heroin and nicknamed her, Moses (pbs.org). Through

determination, endurance and challenges, these slaves became free and set an excellent sample

for their race.

 Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick, and Benjamin Quarles. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An
American Slave. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1960. Print.

History.com Staff. "Frederick Douglass." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009.

Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

HistoryNet. "Dred Scott." HistoryNet. History Net, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

Staff. "Africans in America." Harriet Tubman. PBS, n.d. Web. 20 Nov.

2016.