A slave from the city receives more food and clothing. A city slaveholder will have it known that they provide plenty of food to their slaves. After leaving Master Thomas’s house and living with Mr. Covey, Frederick, for the first time, discovered what it was like to be a field hand. He felt very awkward in his new environment and came to prove it soon enough. A week after his arrival he received a generous number of lashings. Frederick had never maneuvered oxen before and was required to take them out to the woods by Mr. Covey. He wrecked the oxen, the cart, and nearly his life on his journey. Upon arrival, Mr. Covey ordered Frederick to return to the forest as to show him the correct way to handle oxen. Surprisingly Mr. Covey ordered Frederick to remove his clothes. Frederick refused to do so, and therefore this is where his first of many whippings came from. As an infant, Frederick was separated from his mother. This is common in Maryland in an attempt to destroy the child’s relationship with their mother. The separated child is placed with an older woman who cannot work. He never saw his mother more than five times, and each time being in the dark. Since she was a field hand, she was unavailable from sun up until sun down. Around Frederick’s age of seven his mother died. She had passed away and was buried before Frederick knew anything about it. He remembers that time in his life as receiving "the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger". She never once mentioned who his father was and rumors went around that his master was his father. He was unable, however, to find out the truth behind those rumors. In my opinion, the most significant point in Douglass’ narrative was when he talked about getting an education. As Mr. Auld said, "if you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell", proves to be true. An ignorant slave will not know better, but an...
