- 01Chapter I
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Slavery, literacy, freedom, and self-authorship.
11Chapters
32Lessons
80Topics
Certificate of completion included
This course was produced by Cavua from a public-domain text.
Skills this course leaves you with.
- Explain the central role of slavery in Frederick Douglass's early life
- Analyze how literacy becomes a path to self-emancipation in the narrative
- Describe the key events of Douglass's escape from slavery and arrival in freedom
- Interpret Douglass's critique of slaveholding religion and false holidays
- Summarize the significance of Mr. Covey, the fight with him, and Douglass's turning point toward resistance
- Discuss how self-authorship and anti-slavery reform shape the narrative's purpose
Curriculum
The full table of contents.
Every chapter, every lesson, every topic — laid out before you enroll. Click any chapter to expand it.
- Chapters
- 11
- Lessons
- 32
- Topics
- 80
- 01The Great House Farm
- 01Great House Farm allowance songs
- 02Songs as testimony of slavery's sorrow
- 01Chapter III
- 01Chapter IV
- 01Life on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation
- 02Departure for Baltimore and first impressions
- 03Baltimore as providential turning point
- 01Kindness and corruption of Mrs. Auld
- 02Learning to read and the master's warning
- 03City slavery and the Hamilton household
- 01Mistress’s opposition to instruction
- 02Learning to read through white boys
- 01The Columbian Orator and anti-slavery arguments
- 01The awakening of freedom and abolition
- 02The resolve to run away
- 03Learning to write for escape
- 01Learning letters from shipyard markings
- 02Copying with chalk and copy-books
- 01Captain Anthony’s death and the property valuation
- 02Division of the slaves and fear of Master Andrew
- 03Mrs. Lucretia’s death and the grandmother’s abandonment
- 04Removal to St. Michael’s and renewed resolve to escape
- 01Life with Master Thomas Auld at St. Michael’s
- 02Religious hypocrisy and the Sabbath school
- 03Cruelty toward Henny and the move to Edward Covey
- 01First whipping and broken oxen
- 02Daily labor under Mr. Covey
- 03Covey’s deception and religious hypocrisy
- 04Caroline and forced breeding
- 05Broken spirit and longing for freedom
- 06Resolve to escape slavery
- 07Covey’s assault in the wheat-fanning yard
- 08Appeal to Master Thomas and return to Covey
- 01Sandy Jenkins and the root charm
- 02Monday morning fight with Mr. Covey
- 01Defiance after the fight with Covey
- 02Christmas holidays among the slaves
- 01Holiday drunkenness and slaveholder control
- 02Holiday fraud and the illusion of freedom
- 03Punishing appetite with excess molasses and food
- 01Mr. Freeland as a comparatively humane master
- 02Religious slaveholders and the lash
- 03Sabbath school and secret literacy lessons
- 01Sabbath school among enslaved learners
- 02Year of relative peace and fellowship
- 03Resolve to seek freedom in 1835
- 01Building a secret escape plan with fellow slaves
- 02Water-route escape preparations and forged passes
- 03Anxious waiting on departure day
- 01Discovery of the escape plot
- 02Arrest at the lane gate
- 03Henry's armed resistance
- 04Transfer toward Easton jail
- 01Arrest, examination, and transfer to Easton jail
- 02Slave traders in jail and the shock of separation
- 01Return to Baltimore and shipyard labor
- 02Fight with the white apprentices
- 01Attack by white carpenters
- 02Master Hugh's response and failed legal redress
- 01Learning calking and earning wages
- 02Slavery, improved conditions, and the theft of wages
- 01Reasons for withholding details of the escape
- 02Critique of the underground railroad's publicity
- 01hiring my time
- 01Arrival in New York and first feelings of freedom
- 02Loneliness, fear, and the danger of recapture
- 03David Ruggles's aid and gratitude
- 01Arrival in New Bedford and the name change to Douglass
- 02New Bedford’s wealth, order, and free Black community
- 03First paid labor and racial prejudice in calking
- 01Work in New Bedford after escape
- 02Reading the Liberator and embracing anti-slavery reform
- 03First public speech at Nantucket convention
- 01Distinction between slaveholding religion and Christianity of Christ
- 02Biblical indictment of American Christianity
- 01Portrait of southern religion
- 02A Parody
- 03Closing subscription and publication note
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