Read this excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass
Which detail from the passage is evidence that Douglas
has few material possessions while he is enslaved?!
I spent the time in washing, not so much because I wished
to, but because Mrs. Lucretia had told me I must get all the
dead skin off my feet and knees before I could go to
Baltimore for the people in Baltimore were very cleanly,
and would laugh at me if I looked dirty. Besides, she was
going to give me a pair of trousers, which I should not put
on unless I got all the dirt off me. The thought of owning a
pair of trousers was great indeed! It was almost a sufficient
motive not only to make me take off what would be called
by pig drovers the mange, but the skin itself. I went at it in
good earnest, working for the first time with the hope of
reward
Mrs. Lucretia had told me I must get all the dead skin off
my feet and knees
O [The people in Baltimore were very cleanly, and would
laugh at me if I looked dirty
The thought of owning a pair of trousers was great
indeed!
Twent at it in good earnest, working for the first time with
the hope of reward.