In this video, we explore the harrowing experiences of Frederick Douglass, as detailed in his autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Enslaved Person.” Douglass describes the unbearable living conditions that he and other enslaved persons had to endure, including extreme hunger and cold. Even during the hottest summers and coldest winters, he was almost naked, with no shoes, no stockings, no jacket, and no trousers, wearing only a coarse tow linen shirt reaching his knees. He had no bed and had to sleep on a cold, damp, clay floor, often using a bag used for carrying corn to the mill for warmth. Douglass also reveals that their food was coarse cornmeal boiled, which they called mush, and was served in a large wooden tray or trough on the ground. The children were then called, like so many pigs, and would come and devour the mush.
