Though the United States’ history of slavery might seem far away for a 12-year-old girl living in the metropolitan city of Shanghai, the issues of racial justice and human rights ring true even in a completely different culture and time. That was part of the reason I picked up this book. Another thing that attracted me to this book was a pure curiosity about how people lived back in the 1800s. 

This book is written by Frederick Douglass himself, an American slave in Maryland, and was originally published 1845. After this autobiography, Douglass became the first Black U.S. Marshal and became the most photographed American man of the 19th century. 

Douglass' life was full of misfortune and despair, yet he managed to stand tall despite the pain and misery. Like every other slave, he was unsure about his exact date of birth and didn't even know who his father was. He had a loving mother who worked on a different farm. When his mom died, Douglass wasn't allowed to see her, nor go to her funeral. In the book, Douglass describes the cruelty of their masters. Some slaves were beaten to death.

After secretly teaching himself how to read and write, Douglass managed to escape to the north and saved money bit by bit. He then married Anna Murray, a free woman he met in Baltimore. They moved north to Massachusetts, where Douglass became deeply engaged with the abolitionist movement as both a writer and an orator. Though this book is only the first of his three autobiographies, it captures his kindred spirit clearly and portrays the lives of slaves in astonishing detail. The unconditional parental love portrayed in the book is also the very touching. Despite an exhausting and miserable day, Douglass' mother would walk a dozen miles just to say goodnight before her son went to sleep. 

The book brings alive the brutality of slavery and racial injustice right in front of me and makes the issue ever more relevant. I feel extremely sorry for the slaves. Not only did they lack the basic freedom and rights to live life as they wished, but they also were treated in the most inhumane way. Though some masters treated their slaves like friends, they were a rarity at that time. At the time Douglass was writing this book, many people still believed that slavery was a natural state of human society that they could not change. But history proved them wrong. Thanks to persistent souls like Douglass, the cruel truth of slavery has been shown to the public, helping to eventually bring down slavery. 

I highly recommend this first-hand narrative to anyone interested in history and justice. Whatever you are fighting for, the voice of Douglass will bring hope and strength to even a seemingly dim future.