Frederick Douglass Thematic Question
Heidi Wyman

In the time Frederick Douglass wrote his autobiography about his life as a slave, slavery was still going on in the south. Frederick's story informed the people of the treatment the slaves were receiving and created a lot of controversy. The majority of people in the north did not have slaves or witness the treatment of slaves in the south, so reading about the slavery in the south and how the slaves were treated was a huge shock to the northern citizens. This was also shocking because Frederick was a former slave of a southern state.

Frederick was born and grew up in Maryland, with a maternal grandmother Betty Bailey. Frederick was owned by Anthony until Anthony's death, when Frederick was given to Lucretia Auld and Thomas Auld. Lucretia sent him to Hugh Auld in Baltimore where his wife taught Frederick how to read and write. Sophia taught Frederick the skills to read and write until her husband found out and forbade her from teaching him anything because he was a slave. Frederick was determined to learn how to read and write and continued to teach himself with help from neighborhood children whom were being taught. Thomas Auld soon hired Frederick out to Mr. Freeman to work on his plantation. While owned by Mr. Freeman, Frederick started a sabbath school where he would teach slaves how to read the new testament and how to write. Frederick taught about forty people in every Sunday session and was successful for about six months. Other slave owners realized that their slaves were learning how to read and write they busted into the school with clubs and stones and ended the school for good. Frederick was sent back to Thomas Auld where he was sent to live with Edward Covey, the "slave breaker". Frederick was whipped often even when there was no reason at all. He was fed up with the beatings and decided to fight back, Frederick was never beaten again by Mr. Covey. Frederick escaped from his owner and made it to the free states.

When Frederick's book was published it created more controversy between the Northern states and the Southern states over slavery. The Northern states did not support slave owning, while the Southern states depended on slaves to farm and produce cotton. The people of the north noticed the injustice of slavery and it shocked them because it was still going on. In other examples of bad treatment of a massive group of people such as the holocaust, the events have already happened when the survivors wrote books about their treatment. Frederick was writing about something that was still going on in another part of America. This created controversy between the slave states and the non-slave states.

Fredericks novel also created controversy because the details of treatment were shocking to those who read about it. Fredericks story revealed how the slaves in the south were treated. He told one story about a slave who was being whipped and ran into the lake to avoid further whipping. The slave refused to get out of the water and the overseer shot and killed him in the water. There were more stories like this in Fredericks autobiography that shocked the people of the north. This created controversy between the slave states and the non-slave states because the most people in the North were not aware of the treatment the southern slaves were receiving. When they learned the details they were outraged. This again adding to the split between the Northern and southern states.

The details of Fredrick's book were not only a shock because it was still happening, it was also a shock because Maryland, where Frederick lived, was supposed to be a kind slavery state. To have Frederick write so horrible things about the treatment he received in Maryland shocked the people of the north. It also shocked them because if this was the treatment of a nice slave state how were the other slave states treating their slaves. Wm. Lloyd Garrison states that "the treatment of slaves in Maryland, in which State it is conceded that they are better fed and less cruelly treated than in Georgia, Alabama, or Louisiana. Many have suffered incomparably more, while very few on the plantations have suffered less, then himself."

This book also created controversy because it was written by a former slave. Some people could not believe that a former slave would know how to read and write well enough to write his own book with no help. People started to question whether Frederick was really a slave because he had the skills to read and write. This was very controversial because the current expectations of slaves were that they were not intelligent and did not know how to read or write because they were unintelligent. Slave owners did not want there slaves to have these skills so they could keep the system of slavery going. That a slave worked on his own to educate himself and succeeded was a shock to many.

Frederick's book not only attacked slave owners it attacked all who were not doing something to stop slavery. Frederick attacked the Southern slave owners who used Christianity to justify their actions against the slaves. Frederick states that he loves "the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hat the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land." Frederick also commented on his disapproval of northern Christianity groups/ churches who did not join the fight against slavery. Frederick's views on Christianity were very thought provoking and brought about much disagreement.

Frederick created a lot of controversy between the non-slave states and the slave states of America. His book supported the Abolitionist's cause and increased the split between the States that would lead to the Civil War and eventually the end slavery in the states. Frederick's book addressed aspects slavery that were not well known to many American citizens. He challenged those who were not fighting against slavery and attacked the one thing that the people of American cared about most, their religion. Frederick did more for the slaves then he would ever see in his own life time. Without the controversy created from Frederick's novel, Slavery might have lasted longer, Frederick was an essential contributor to the fight against slavery.