e type of wood and the names of these letters. Any boy he met that could write he would challenge them to a writing contest. Frederick would use the letters he recently learned and told the child to challenge that. He then copied the Italics in Webster’s Spelling Book until he knew them well. All this hard work and years of practice gave Frederick the knowledge to write. After his relocation to Mr. Freeland, who was the owner of two slaves, Frederick devoted his Sundays teaching these two and other slaves how to read. Frederick heard the word abolitionists a few times but it wasn’t for a while until he found out what it meant. If a slave succeeded in escaping from his Master or performing a radical action such as burning a barn or killing his Master, it was considered to be a form of abolition. One day while running an errand, Frederick ran into two Irishmen hard at work. Frederick assisted the Irishmen and soon after they asked if he was a slave. The men then advised Frederick to run away to the north to find friends and freedom. Ever since this encounter he has dreamed of the day he could safely escape. An attempt to carry out his dreams surfaced during his stay with Master Thomas. He did not attempt to escape, however he regrets not doing so since the chances of succeeding are ten times greater from the city than from the country. Anthony, one of Frederick’s two masters, was not a humane slaveholder. Frederick was awakened habitually by the sounds of his own aunt being whipped repeatedly because she was caught away for the evening with a man. Slaves, when unhappy, sing songs to help drown their sorrow. Frederick would often sing for this purpose, and not to express his happiness as some slaves also do. The men and women slaves received eight pounds of pork or fish and one bushel of corn meal monthly. On a yearly basis, they received very little along the lines of clothing. The children unable to work in the field we...
