Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Character Guide

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Frederick Douglass (Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey)

The narrator, born into slavery in Maryland; a thoughtful, observant boy who begins to grasp the horror of his condition as he witnesses violence and is denied education.

Captain Anthony

Douglass's first master, a farm manager for Colonel Lloyd, described as a hardened slaveholder who tolerates brutal punishments on his plantation.

Colonel Lloyd

A wealthy planter who owns numerous farms and slaves, including the 'Great House Farm,' representing the grandeur and cruelty of large-scale plantation slavery.

Aunt Hester

Douglass's aunt, whose brutal whipping by Captain Anthony is one of the first horrors young Frederick witnesses.

Mr. Plummer / Mr. Severe / Mr. Hopkins / Mr. Austin Gore

A succession of overseers on Colonel Lloyd's plantation, each known for varying degrees of cruelty toward the enslaved workers.

Hugh Auld (Master Hugh)

Douglass's master in Baltimore, who forbids his wife from teaching Frederick to read, declaring that literacy would make him unfit for slavery.

Sophia Auld (Mistress Sophia)

Hugh Auld's wife, who initially treats young Frederick with unexpected kindness and begins teaching him the alphabet before her husband intervenes.

Thomas Auld (Master Thomas)

A slaveholder connected to the Auld family who later takes possession of Douglass and is portrayed as a newly religious but harsh master.

Edward Covey

A poor farmer known as a 'slave-breaker,' to whom Douglass is sent for a year of brutal labor and discipline.

William Lloyd Garrison

The famous abolitionist who writes the Preface, vouching for Douglass's character and the truth of his account.

Wendell Phillips

An abolitionist orator who contributes an introductory letter endorsing Douglass's narrative.

Glossary

Overseer

A hired manager, often notoriously cruel, responsible for supervising and disciplining enslaved workers on a plantation.

Cowskin

A whip made from cattle hide, used as an instrument of violent punishment against enslaved people.

Great House Farm

The central plantation estate of Colonel Lloyd, considered a place of relative privilege and awe among the surrounding slave farms.

Slave-breaker

A person, like Edward Covey, hired specifically to psychologically and physically subdue rebellious or unruly enslaved individuals.

The Columbian Orator

A widely used schoolbook of speeches and dialogues, including anti-slavery arguments, that young Douglass reads and which shapes his thinking on freedom and rhetoric.

The Liberator

William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist newspaper, which Douglass begins reading after his escape and which deepens his commitment to the anti-slavery cause.

Hiring out one's time

A practice where an enslaved person was permitted to find their own work and pay their master a set fee, keeping any surplus earnings — a limited step toward autonomy.

Fugitive slave

A term for an enslaved person who has escaped bondage, used throughout the narrative to describe Douglass's precarious status even after reaching free states.

Class-leader

A lay leader in Methodist church congregations, referenced ironically as some 'pious' slaveholders held this religious title.

Ell

An old unit of measurement (about 45 inches) used in the phrase 'give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell,' meaning a small concession leads to greater demands.

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