Freeland, irreligious though he was, it must be stated that he was the best master I ever had until I became my own master and assumed for myself, as I had a right to do, the responsibility of my own existence and the exercise of my own powers.
Douglass reflects on his experience with a relatively less cruel master, emphasizing that true freedom only came when he claimed self-ownership and responsibility for his own life.
Share
More from Frederick Douglass
Treason had shot its poisonous roots deeper, and had spread its death-dealing branches further than any northern calculation had covered.
My grandmother was all the world to me, and the thought of being separated from her was a most unwelcome suggestion to my affections and hopes.