Douglass wrote this autobiography which was published in 1855. Douglass was born in Maryland and separated from his mother when he was an infant. Some scholars think he was descendant from American Muslins. When he was 12 his owner's wife broke the law by teaching him to read. The neighborhood children helped him with his reading and writing. As a teenager he spent a few years with a farmer known to be a slave breaker. He later obtained his freedom and became a well-known abolitionist.

Douglass begins by saying that he does not know his birthday and this bothers him. What a simple statement yet is conveys so much of the laments of an ex slave and the cruelty of the slave system. Douglass was a famous orator who wrote his memoirs as a means of discussing abolition. The writings of Frederick Douglass are seen as being the most influential in the 19th century and helped strengthen the abolitionist movement.