Which provides a properly-written objective summary of Douglass’s letter? Download the letter (Links to an external site.)

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Douglass recalls his escape from Auld’s plantation ten years earlier. He remembers wondering why God would have made slaves before learning that it was white men who began the institution of slavery by taking people from Africa and that there were free states where slavery did not exist. He feels sad that, because of legal slavery, he and other former slaves cannot return to their home state of Maryland. After a period of adjustment, he learned to live in the free states, received an education, and created a better live for himself and his family. Douglass calls attention to his treatment at Auld’s hands and writes that he is worried for the family members he left behind when he ran away. He asks Auld to think about how it would feel if his own child was taken away and forced into slavery and the conditions he and the other slaves endured. He calls Auld and all other slaveholders hypocrites for claiming to be Christians while still holding slaves. Douglass does not wish any harm to come to Auld personally, but he wants to use him as an example to bring about the end of slavery.

Douglass writes about the long and intimate, though by no means friendly relation which unhappily subsisted between Auld and himself. Douglass writes to explain to Auld the grounds upon which he has justified himself in running away from Auld. He is almost ashamed to do so. Douglass is free to say that he greatly prefers his life to that which he had in Maryland. He is, however, by no means prejudiced against the State. Since he left Auld, he has had a rich experience. He has occupied stations which he never dreamed of when a slave. He had not long enjoyed the excellent society to which he has referred, before the light of its excellence exerted a beneficial influence on his mind and heart. The responsibility which Auld has assumed in this regard is truly awful—and how Auld could stagger under it these many years is marvellous. Auld’s mind must have become darkened, his heart hardened, his conscience seared and petrified, or he would have long since thrown off the accursed load and sought relief at the hands of a sin-forgiving God. Douglass intends to make use of Auld as a weapon with which to assail the system of slavery.

Douglass heroically tells the story of his escape from Auld’s terrible plantation. He recalls his distress over his position as a slave by sharing a heartbreaking memory of wondering why he was a slave, only to find out that the terrible institution was not God’s will but the will of greedy white men. Luckily, Douglass’s escape was successful, and he triumphantly writes about all the tremendous improvements in his life, including a lovey home and a wonderful family. Douglass calls attention to the barbaric treatment of slaves and demands Auld to consider how he would feel if his own child was forced into slavery. He wishes to use Auld and his personal experience on Auld’s plantation as an example to end the evil institution of slavery.

Douglass writes to Auld in order to find out what has become of his family because he feels terrible for leaving them behind. The story of his miraculous escape is meant to provide hope for other slaves. Douglass wants to tell his heartbreaking story in order to expose Auld and use him as an example of the terrible treatment of all who are enslaved. Ten years earlier, Douglass ran way. He has made a better life for himself and his new family and will never return to Maryland because he is rightfully afraid that he will be enslaved again. The way Auld treated Douglass and the other slaves is unforgivable, and Auld is a hypocrite because he knows he would not want the same thing to happen to his own daughter. Douglass makes many valid points in order to argue against the institution of slavery.