Frederick Bailey's life started in February 1818, he was born in Tuckahoe near Easton in Maryland.1 His mother was Harriet Baily, and Frederick Douglass describes his father as being white but he did not know him; however, there were rumors that Aaron Anthony was Douglass's father.2 Aaron Anthony was the man who owned the farm Douglass was born on.2 Frederick Douglass only saw his mother a handful of times in his life, mainly because that she hired out to Mr. Stewart who was twelve miles away and never had a chance to meet with him, so he was taken care for by his grandmother, Betsey Baily.1 .
Douglass's master was not exactly the symbol of kindness, "The slave children of Aaron Anthony's were fed cornmeal mush that was placed in a trough, to which they were called."2They were provided with no eating utensils, no beds and nearly any clothing at all, the slaves at that plantation were also whipped if they performed their tasks too slow.2.
When Douglass was around eight years old, he went to live with Hugh Auld, who was the son in law of Aaron Anthony. This was a nice change of pace for Douglass because the Auld family treated him better as his only jobs were to run errands and take care of the baby Tommy. During his stay with the Auld family, he asked the wife of Hugh Auld, Sophia Auld to teach him to read; she obliged and proceeded to teach him to read. Hugh Auld was outraged at the fact that she taught Douglass to read and forbad it because slaves were outlawed from learning to read, so he was forced to trading pieces of bread to poor white children in exchange for their knowledge of reading. .
On January 1, 1836, Frederick Douglass was ready and willing to escape enslavement, but armed white men put him with other associates in jail when they were planning their escape in early April.1 Hugh Auld released him from jail after a week.1 After a while, Douglass was allowed to work at a shipyard where Hugh Auld worked and was able to keep part of his wage.