Frederick Douglass was a slave. This means he was owned by a slave owner. The slave owner would make him work, but gave him no money. Like many enslaved children, Frederick had barely any memory of his parents and he did not know his birthday. Frederick lived with his grandmother until he was old enough to work in the fields. Slaves worked from sunrise to sunset with no breaks. Being a slave was extremely tiring.

Part of being a slave is that you live on a Plantation(an area of land that has many farms and fields of crops and resources). Life on a plantation was very rough. The conditions were not good. They were not given nice clothes or many pairs of clothes and they were hit if they were not on task.

Frederick had to share a bed with all the other slaves. Most nights he didn't even get a bed, just the floor.

One day, Frederick was sent to work at the Baltimore. Douglass was happy about moving to Baltimore because he felt is was a road to freedom.