My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 16 summary
Chapter 16 of 34 · 12 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 16, the narrator collapses while working in extreme heat, suffers a violent beating from Covey, and travels to St. Michael’s to ask Thomas Auld for protection. Auld rejects his request for another master because leaving Covey would cost him wages, allowing only an overnight stay before ordering his return.
What happens
- The narrator describes Covey’s repeated violence and explains his aim of showing slavery truthfully without recounting every abuse.
- During wheat processing on a hot August afternoon, the narrator collapses, stopping the work of the four-man crew.
- Covey kicks him repeatedly and strikes his head with a hickory slab, opening a bleeding wound.
- The narrator escapes toward St. Michael’s, avoids the road, and struggles through the woods to reach Thomas Auld.
- Auld dismisses his account of illness, defends Covey, and refuses his request for a different master.
- Auld permits one night’s rest, gives him Epsom salts, and orders him back; the narrator condemns slaveholders’ accusations of laziness.
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In this chapter
Quick check
What financial reason does Auld give for refusing to remove the narrator from Covey?
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“My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 16 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-bondage-and-my-freedom-chapter-16-summary.
Library of Alexandria. (2026). My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 16 summary. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-bondage-and-my-freedom-chapter-16-summary
“My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 16 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-bondage-and-my-freedom-chapter-16-summary.
@misc{my_bondage_and_my_freedom_chapter_16_summary_2026,
title = {My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter 16 summary},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/my-bondage-and-my-freedom-chapter-16-summary}
}
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