Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Test Review

Where was Frederick Douglass born?

Tuckahoe, Maryland

When was Frederick Douglass born?

February 1818

What was Frederick Douglass's name at birth?

Frederick Bailey

What did Frederick Douglass know about his parents?

His mother was a slave and his father was a white man

How old was Frederick Douglass when he wrote his narrative

Between 27 and 28 years old

How many times did Frederick Douglass see his mother?

not more than four or five times in his life

What were his visits with his mother like?

Very brief and in the dark. She was gone before morning.

How old was Frederick Douglass when his mother died?

About 7 years old

What did Frederick Douglass observe about mulatto children?

They were often sold and hated by their mistress.

What are Douglass's observations about this class of mulatto slaves in relation to the south and the American idea of the correctness of slavery?

Douglas claims that the increase of Mulatto children rejects the idea that they're descendants of Ham, who God cursed.

Who is Douglas's first master?

Captain Anthony

Who were members of Douglass's master's family? Where did they live?

two sons Andrew and Richard one daughter Lucretia and her husband, Captain Thomas Auld they lived on the home plantation of Colonel Edward Lloyd

What was the slaves' monthly allowance of food and yearly allowance of clothing like?

They received 8 lb of pork or fish and one bushel of cornmeal They received two linen shirts, one pair of linen trousers, one jacket, one pair of trousers for winter, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes

What were the slaves' bed and bedding like?

They didn't receive a bed. They received one coarse blanket and slept on the floor.

How did Douglas feel about slave songs?

They filled him with ineffable sadness, and he cried when he heard them. He believes there are a testimony against slavery.

When did Douglass say slaves sing?

When they were the saddest

How did Colonel Lloyd keep slaves out of his garden?

He tarred the fence and beat any slave found with tar on him

Why did slaves only give positive comments about their slaveholders?

Slaveholders would often send spies to see if any slaves were unfaithful

What example does Douglass give of Mr Gore being cruel?

He was cruel enough to inflict the harshest punishment.

What example does Douglass give of Mr Gore being artful?

He was artful enough to descend to the lowest trickery.

What example does Douglass give of Mr Gore being obdurate?

He was obdurate enough to be insensible to the voice of a reproving conscience.

What did Mr Gore do to Demby? Why?

He shot Demby in the head because he went into a stream to cool his wounds after being whipped.

What punishment does Mr Gore receive? Why?

Mr Gore goes unpunished because he argued that if one slave refused to be corrected, other slaves would copy the example. The jury found Mr. Gore's defense satisfactory.

Who were Mr. Thomas Lanman, Mrs. Hick, and Mr. Beal Bondly?

White slave owners who killed slaves and got away with it.

What did Thomas Lanman do?

He killed two slaves. He bragged about using a hatchet to knock one of their brains out.

What did Mrs Hick do?

She broke a 16-year-old girl's nose and breastbone with the stick, causing her to die a few hours afterward.

What did Mr Beal Bondly do?

Beal Bondly shot a man who accidentally wandered into his property.

Did Thomas Lanman, Mrs. Hick, or Bill Bondly get punished?

No

How did Daniel Lloyd treat Frederick Douglass?

He protected Frederick Douglass from older boys and divided his cakes with him.

How old was Frederick Douglass when he left the Lloyd Plantation?

Between seven or eight years old

Where did Frederick Douglass go after leaving Lloyd's Plantation?

He went to Baltimore to live with Mr Hugh Auld and take care of his son, Thomas.

What did Douglass think about his departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation?

He accepted it with joy, and he believed that it was the best moment of his life.

To what did Frederick Douglass attribute his good fortune?

God/divine providence

What did Mrs Auld teach Frederick Douglass do? How did Mr Auld react?

Learn how to read; He told her that learning would spoil the best slave in the world and that if a slave learned how to read, he would become unmanageable.

What did Frederick Douglass realize through Mr. Auld's comments?

They awoke a new and special revelation: that wit was the white man's power to enslave the black man

What changed after Frederick Douglass heard Mr Auld's comments about education?

He was determined to become educated

How were slaves treated differently in the city compared to on the plantation?

Slaves got enough to eat, their masters were kinder, and they enjoyed privileges unknown to those on the plantation

How did Mrs. Auld change during the time that Douglass lived with the Auld family? What made her change?

She went from kind to cruel. Her husband influenced her thoughts and power.

How did Douglass learn to read?

He spent time learning from white schoolchildren.

How old was Douglass when he read "The Columbian Orator"? What effect did this book have on him?

he was about 12; it allowed him to express himself, and it instilled a deep hatred of slaveholders

Why did Douglass say that learning to read was a curse instead of a blessing?

he was educated about the injustice of slavery but had to feign ignorance because there was nothing he could do about it

What word did Douglass hear that was of interest to him? How did he find out the meaning?

abolitionists; he found its meaning through the city papers, which contained an account of the number of petitions from the north praying for the abolition of slavery in the south

How did Frederick Douglass learn to write?

he copied letters from pieces of timber marked for different parts of ships, and he wrote letters from Thomas's copy-books

What event happened about three years after Douglass began living in Baltimore that again reminded him that he detested slavery?

He was sent back to the place he was born for a valuation of property after his master's death

What regret did Douglass express about the time when he was moved from Master Hugh's home to Master Thomas?

Not running away because the chances of running away safely in the north was ten times greater than those of running away in the south

Which of Thomas's practices was considered the meanest, even among slaveholders?

not giving his slaves enough to eat

Where did Master Thomas send Douglass, for how long, and why?

he sent Douglass to Mr. Covey's for one year because Douglass kept letting Master Thomas's horse escape, and Thomas believed Douglass needed to be broken

What happened to Douglass almost every week for the first six months that he lived with Covey?

he was whipped harshly

How does Douglass describe himself after he had been with Covey for a few months?

broken in body, soul, and spirit, transformed into a brute

What does Douglass do when he sees the ships int he Chesapeake Bay?

he talks to them, lamenting his state as a slave, and asking if God truly exists

What did Covey do to Douglass when he (Douglass) became sick while fanning the wheat?

Covey kicked him in the side and smashed him on the head with a hickory slat

What did Douglass do as a result of Covey's treatment?

He went back to Master Thomas and complained, but Douglass was sent back to Covey who wanted to beat him for telling

What suggestion did another slave named Sandy Jenkins give to Douglass?

he suggests that Douglass carry a magic root with him to protect him from Covey

What was Douglass's turning point as a slave when he was with Covey?

when he fought Covey back, rekindling the embers of freedom and reviving his sense of manhood

What institution is the "mere covering for the most horrid crimes"?

the religion of the south

What type of slaveholders does Douglass claim are the worst?

religious slaveholders because they are the meanest, most cruel and cowardly

What was Douglass's first escape attempt like?

He was accompanied by Sandy Jenkins, Henry Harris, John Harris, Henry Bailey, and Charles Roberts. They planned on stealing a canoe and paddling up to the Chesapeake, then leaving Maryland on foot by following the North Star

What happened to the men after they were accused of plotting to escape?

They were all sent to jail. Frederick was left behind and eventually returned to Master Hugh in Baltimore.

What trade did Douglass learn?

He learned how to caulk. He served 75 carpenters until he got into a fight with a group of white apprentices who thought black men would steal their jobs.

Why didn't Douglass give all of the details of his escape?

So he wouldn't get caught and returned to his master or get those who helped him in trouble

How did Douglass feel about the underground railroad?

he thought it was too public, but he commended the men and women involved for their bravery

Master Hugh sometimes gave Douglass six cents of his wages after he had made six dollars, supposedly to encourage him. What effect did this have on Douglass?

It convinced him that even his master admitted that he had a right to all of his money

Why did Douglass want to hire himself out, even though Master Hugh took most of the wages?

He thought that if he was ever going to be a free man, he needed to bear the anxieties and responsibilities of a free man

When did Douglass succeed in escaping? Where did he go?

September 3, 1838 to New York

How did Douglass feel when he arrived in the free state?

He was excited at first, but then overcome with insecurity and lonliness

What motto did Douglass adopt in the free state? Why?

"Trust no man!" because he was afraid that he would be kidnapped and returned to enslavement

Who helped Douglass and what were some of the results of his help?

David Ruggles helped Douglass get married and arrive safely in New Bedford

How did Frederick Bailey become Frederick Douglass?

He was named Douglass by Mr. Johnson who was reading "Lady of the Lake"

What names did Frederick Douglass use over the course of his life?

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, Frederick Bailey, Stanley, Frederick Johnson, and Frederick Douglass

What newspaper did Douglass begin to read?

the Liberator opened Douglass's eyes to the anti-slavery movement and encouraged him to testify against slavery

What does Douglass say about the slave-holding religion?

Douglass believes that calling the religion of the south Christianity is the misnomer of all misnomers because its filled with hypocrisy and corruption