From Slavery to Freedom: Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery around 1818 in Maryland. He never knew his exact birthday because enslaved people were often not given this basic information. His early life was filled with hardship, but Douglass refused to let his circumstances define his future.

As a young boy, Douglass secretly learned to read with the help of his enslaver's wife, Sophia Auld. When her husband discovered this, he ordered her to stop. He said that an educated enslaved person would become unmanageable. Hearing this, Douglass understood that education was the key to freedom. He continued learning on his own, trading bread with poor white children in exchange for reading lessons.

In 1838, at the age of twenty, Douglass escaped to the North and began a new life a ...