Excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave #2 Frederick Douglass
I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot county, Maryland. I have no accurate
knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of
their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant.
do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time,
harvest-time, cherry-time, spring-time, or fall-time. I was not allowed to make any inquiries of my master concerning it. He
deemed all such inquiries on the part of a slave improper and impertinent, and evidence of a restless spirit.
The theme being developed in this excerpt is related to the time surrounding the Civil War because