9781422274194

Escaping from Slavery In 1818, a black child named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born on a Maryland plantation. His mother was a slave, and so Frederick was a slave also. His father was a white man—probably the plantation owner. Frederick was separated from his mother when he was very young, and was raised by his grandmother on another plantation. When Frederick was about ten years old, the plantation owner took him away from his grandmother. Frederick was sent to work for Hugh and Sophia Auld, who lived in Baltimore. While living in the city, Sophia Auld taught Frederick the basics of how to read and write. When she stopped tutoring him, Frederick secretly studied some books that he found. He also learned from friendly white children that he met while working. When Frederick became a teenager, the Aulds hired him out to work on nearby plantations. He was forced to work for others until he was about twenty years old. When he met a free black woman in Baltimore named Anna Murray, Frederick was inspired to gain his own freedom. Frederick ran away several times, but was caught

Opposite: this abolitionist literature from 1850 depicts white slave-catchers firing their muskets at four black Americans (possibly escaping slaves, but just as likely free men). Quotations from the Bible and the Declaration of Independence are used to highlight the evil nature of slavery.

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