Douglass Quiz Questions, Essay Example

1.Why would slaveholders want to keep a slave ignorant of such a simple thing as the date of his birth?

Slaveholders withheld information from slaves regarding their birth because it was a way to control them and make them feel less than human. It was a way of demeaning them by letting them know that the day they were born was unimportant.

2.Who were Frederick’s mother and father?

Frederick’s mother was Harriet Bailey, the daughter of Isaac and Betsey Bailey who were both slaves. His father was a white man but Frederick never found out who it was. However, Frederick and others believed that his Master was his father. However, since Frederick was separated from his mother as an infant, the ability to ever truly know his patronage was withheld from him.

3.Why does Frederick make the point that a slaveholder who has fathered a child is likely to be tougher on that child?

A slaveholder who has fathered a child is likely to be tougher on that child because his white wife is often jealous of the mulatto slave whom her husband as father. If he is not tough on the slave, the wife and other sons will make up for it. Frederick makes this point because he led a tough life, perhaps because he was a child of a white slaveholder.

4.Is Frederick’s relationship with his mother typical of other slave children?

Frederick does say that his relationship with his mother was typical of other slave children. He, like most others, was taken from his mother when he was less than a year old. While his mother tried to visit him every once in a while, the journey was 12 miles each way. She also died young, when Frederick was only 7, so he never really had a chance to know her at all, leaving him to reflect that her death was like the death of a stranger for him.

5.What is the relationship of the slaveholder to the overseer to the slave on the plantation?

The slaveholder entrusts the overseer to make sure that the slaves are doing their job and to enforce the rules of the plantation. The overseer treats the slaves with just as much, if not more, cruelty than the slaveholder.

6.Who is Frederick’s first master?

Frederick’s first master was a man with the last name of Anthony. He was generally called Captain Anthony. Captain Anthony was not considered a rich slaveholder because he only owned two or three farms and about 30 slaves.

7.Why do you think Frederick tell the story of Lloyd’s Ned?

The story of Lloyd’s Ned, the slave whom his master had caught his Aunt Hester with, is to illustrate the extreme acts of cruelty that were common occurrence on the plantation. Aunt Hester, because of her beauty, was subject to even more cruelty from the master because he desired her. When he caught her with Lloyd Ned, he flew into a jealous rage, and brutally whipped her. It was the first time young Frederick had witnessed such a violent and bloody scene, and it was the point at which he fully realized what his future would be as a plantation slave.