Frederick Douglass's Early Life and Education

Frederick Douglass was born into enslavement in Talbot County, Maryland, around February 1818, and faced a traumatic childhood marked by separation from his mother and witnessing the brutality of slavery. His mother, Harriet, instilled in him resilience, as he was raised by his grandmother after being sent to live with his first enslaver. A pivotal moment came when he was taken to Baltimore, where Sophia Auld, his enslaver’s wife, taught him to read, igniting Douglass's lifelong passion for education. Despite the initial kindness of Sophia, the harsh realities of slavery soon took over, illustrating how the institution corrupted even well-intentioned people, and Douglass cunningly sought ways to continue his education, even tricking white boys into teaching him for food.