Noemi Foersterová

Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.

AJ17051: Introduction to African American History and Culture I

29.4.2021

                       The Life of Frederick Douglas: Searching for Parents

This essay will be focused on relationships of Frederick Douglass and its impact of his life
choices and the development of his character. The absence of primal family as well as the identity
crisis and the further reconstruction of parental relations has great impact of Frederick
Douglass’s years of adolescence, where he became literate and freed himself from determination as a
slave. In this essay there will be provided details of this impact as well as the process itself.

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Frederick mentions his
origin. He knows his mother Harriet Bailey, who was a slave, but who was his father was never
clear. There were suspicions it was the slaveholder of his mother Aaron Anthony. Frederick was
mixed race, which was not unusual (many slaveholders raped their female slaves, as they were their
property), but it is possible that he heritage some of his talents such as being well-spoken, great
storyteller and overall a great thinker interested in affair, that used to be domain of white
Americans from the upper classes, from his father. He was separated from his mother when he was
very little, so he never really got a chance to set his identity, Frederick never even knew the
exact date of his birth. It was the intention of the slaveholders to keep their slaves as little
self-aware and confident as possible because it makes them weaker in spirit.

Before Young Douglass was putted into family of Auld, where he met Mrs. Auld he was given new clean
clothes, this gesture has a bigger meaning as Frederick wrote: “The thought of owning a pair of
trousers was great indeed! It was almost a sufficient motive, not only to make me take off what
would be called by pig drovers the mange, but the skin itself.” (The Narrative 24) . Sophia Auld
was for little Frederick the most important women, she gave him love and care he could not get from
his mother. This lady taught him to read and treated him kindly. She replaced at least some part of
the mother figure. From the point where Douglass started to read he gain the needed power.

Since there were no father figures for Douglass all the men in his life were divided on two
categories. The weak passive slaves, and the strong cruel masters. However, this changed when he
lived on the farm of Mr. Covey. This brute man used to wipe his slaves all the time. Once Frederick
misbehaved and ran away from his master, he met in the forest Sandy Jenkins. The black man who
helped him and gave him special root, the talisman. He then came back to Mr. Covey. Douglas refused
to be whipped and decided to fight man to man with his master. Such unusual thing surprised the
slaveholder, and he lost the fight with Frederick. From the psychological perspective this affair
has great impact of Frederick Douglass rebirth into a man. He gains power and faith in his
abilities. From that point he no longer needed a father figure, he became a man himself.

Frederick Douglas has very hard journey full of obstacles. Hence being such strong and driven
person as he was, he endured all the wrongs and was able to establish his identity on his own even
without stable family. During his early life he met many important people who made him what he is
known for today. The woman who supplied for his mother Mrs Auld show him love and affection .The
mysterious Afro-American Mr. Jankins gave him courage and protection, with those ground parental
gifts Frederick Douglass was able to fight for himself and other enslaved black people.


                                            Works cited

Douglass, F (1845) Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave- written by
himself.