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Listen and read along with the passage about Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass as a young man, after he escaped slavery

Frederick Douglass was born in Maryland around 1818. Back then, the United States allowed slavery. Slavery means a person is owned by someone else and forced to work for them. Many Black people were enslaved. Enslaved people were not free to do what they wanted. They had to work long hours and did not get paid any money. They could even be sold and taken away from their families. But Frederick Douglass worked hard to change all that.

Frederick Douglass was enslaved as a child. He was forced to work like an adult when he was young. He had to do many jobs on a farm, like cleaning and working in the fields. Douglass was often cold and hungry. He did not have enough food to eat or warm clothing to wear.

Frederick Douglass's life was very hard, but he loved to learn. He wanted to learn how to read and write. Enslaved people like Douglass were not allowed to go to school or learn to read and write. But Douglass found ways to learn anyway. Even though he had very little food, he gave some of it to white children so they would teach him. He also secretly practiced with an old book.

Once Frederick Douglass learned to read and write, he read books and newspapers to learn about freedom and slavery. He believed that reading could help people be free! So, he secretly taught other enslaved people to read, too.

When Frederick Douglass grew up, the United States had slavery. What does the word slavery mean?

owning another person and forcing them to work without pay

being free to go to new places and meet new people

going to school during the week and working on the weekend

working one job and being paid fairly for that work

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