Summary When Douglass went to live at Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, he was awed by the splendor he saw. Douglass heard that Lloyd owned approximately a thousand slaves, and he believes that this estimate is probably accurate. Lloyd was especially renowned for his beautiful garden, which people traveled many miles to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter IIISummary and Analysis Chapter II
Summary Douglass describes his master’s family and their relationship with Colonel Lloyd, who was sort of a “grand master” of the area. Douglass explains that if slaves broke plantation rules, tried to run away, or became generally “unmanageable,” they were whipped and shipped to Baltimore to be sold to slave […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter IISummary and Analysis Chapter I
Summary Douglass begins his Narrative by explaining that he is like many other slaves who don’t know when they were born and, sometimes, even who their parents are. From hearsay, he estimates that he was born around 1817 and that his father was probably his first white master, Captain Anthony. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter ISummary and Analysis Letter From Wendell Phillips, Esq.
Summary A private letter from Phillips, addressing Douglass as “My Dear Friend,” is sometimes included as an introduction to certain editions of the Narrative. Phillips begins his letter by referring to the old fable of “The Man and the Lion,” in which the lion states that he would no longer […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Letter From Wendell Phillips, Esq.Summary and Analysis Garrison’s Preface
Summary Certain editions of the Narrative begin with a preface by William Lloyd Garrison and a letter to Douglass from Wendell Phillips. Garrison, a well-known abolitionist, begins his preface by telling us he met Douglass at an abolitionist convention and that the former slave’s speech so impressed the audience that […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Garrison’s PrefaceCharacter List
William Lloyd Garrison A leading abolitionist in the North, and Douglass’ patron. Garrison and his followers advocated the abolition of slavery on moral grounds but did not support armed resistance. Wendell Phillips Another leading figure in the abolitionist movement. After the Civil War, Phillips supported Douglass’ position regarding the enfranchisement […]
Read more Character ListBook Summary
Douglass’ Narrative begins with the few facts he knows about his birth and parentage; his father is a slave owner and his mother is a slave named Harriet Bailey. Here and throughout the autobiography, Douglass highlights the common practice of white slave owners raping slave women, both to satisfy their […]
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