Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself | Chapter 10 Summary

In the longest chapter of the narrative, Douglass reveals some of the most distressing and empowering moments of his life as a slave. He begins the chapter illustrating how unfit he was to work as a field hand after having lived in the city for seven years. Douglass describes an incident where he has to drive a pair of unbroken oxen into the woods for some firewood. Because he takes too much time due to the surly nature of the oxen, Douglass gets whipped by Mr. Covey. Douglass goes on to describe the many ways in which Covey catches his slaves off guard by sneaking up on them. ''He was...

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