Paragraph 2 states that Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland. Analyze how this event affected other individuals
and/or influenced other events described in the text. Use specific details from the text to develop your response. Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey into slavery in Maryland, Douglass did not know his real birth date. He later adopted February 14 as the date to celebrate. Separated from his mother at a young age, Douglass had the good fortune to be exposed to reading at an early age. He soon learned enough to begin teaching other slaves. However, he was sent to another plantation where his education was discouraged. Douglass wrote about this time in his autobiography, citing it as a period that nearly broke his spirit. But it didn’t break him. In fact, he fought back and tried to escape slavery several times. On the third try, he succeeded. HELP QUICK 23 POINTS NO LINKS
Douglass' birth as a slave allows readers to understand the hardships and sufferings he went through, as well as allowing readers to understand the importance of reading to him.
We can arrive at this answer because:
The fact that Douglass was born a slave lays the foundation for understanding all the events in the rest of the text.
This is because being born a slave meant that Douglass did not know his birth date, had no home, was estranged from his family, suffered various abuses, and was prevented from accessing education.
All these factors promoted a very difficult life, which justifies why Douglass fights for the liberation of slaves.
In this case, we can say that Douglass wanted to establish how suffering and limitation were present from the beginning of his life, allowing readers to understand from the beginning what he was trying to defend.