My Bondage and My Freedom: who's who, timeline and places

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Frederick DouglassHe dedicates the volume to Gerrit Smith in gratitude for his opposition to slavery.First seen in chapter 1
The narrator’s grandmotherShe cares for her daughters’ children and earns respect through skilled work.First seen in chapter 2
AnthonyHe threatens the narrator’s injured cousin and brutally punishes Esther for seeing Edward.First seen in chapter 6
EstherShe suffers a brutal whipping from Anthony for continuing to see Edward.First seen in chapter 6
Lucretia AuldShe bandages Freddy’s injured forehead and gives him sympathy and extra food.First seen in chapter 10
Hugh AuldHe forbids the narrator’s education, strengthening the narrator’s desire to learn.First seen in chapter 11
Mrs. Hugh AuldShe welcomes the narrator warmly and teaches him letters and short words.First seen in chapter 11
LawsonHe becomes the narrator’s spiritual mentor and encourages his study and hope for freedom.First seen in chapter 13
Thomas AuldHis quarrel with Hugh forces Fred to leave Baltimore and his friends.First seen in chapter 14
CoveyHe is the man to whom Douglass faces being sent to have his resistance broken.First seen in chapter 15
SandyHe shelters Frederick with his wife and offers him a protective root.First seen in chapter 18
William FreelandHe provides better working conditions than those the narrator experiences under Covey.First seen in chapter 19
William Lloyd GarrisonHe helps the narrator understand and join the antislavery movement.First seen in chapter 23
AnnaShe marries the narrator after he reaches New York.First seen in chapter 23

Chapter 2
The narrator recalls childhood with his grandmother and learns that they belong to a distant master.
Chapter 3
His grandmother takes him to his old master’s home and leaves him there among unfamiliar siblings.
Chapter 4
The narrator remembers his mother’s difficult visits and her defense of him against Aunt Katy.
Chapter 6
Anthony refuses protection to the narrator’s injured cousin and brutally whips Esther for seeing Edward.
Chapter 9
Gore kills Denby for refusing to leave a creek and faces no trial.
Chapter 10
Freddy leaves the plantation for Baltimore, where the Auld household welcomes him warmly.
Chapter 11
Mrs. Hugh Auld begins teaching the narrator to read, but her husband forbids further lessons.
Chapter 12
The narrator secretly continues reading through lessons from white boys and speeches in the Columbian Orator.
Chapter 14
After Anthony’s death, Fred faces appraisal and division as property before returning to Baltimore.
Chapter 15
Douglass suffers hunger under Thomas Auld, and churchmen destroy the Sunday school he helps start.
Chapter 16
Covey subjects the narrator to dangerous farm work, repeated beatings, and constant watching.
Chapter 18
Frederick resists Covey for two hours, regains self-respect, and escapes further whipping from him.
Chapter 19
The narrator moves to Freeland’s farm, forms close friendships, and builds a secret reading school.
Chapter 20
Frederick and his companions prepare an escape by canoe, but constables arrest them before departure.
Chapter 21
Frederick survives a shipyard assault, becomes a skilled caulker, and sees Hugh Auld take his wages.
Chapter 22
The narrator leaves Baltimore and slavery without revealing his escape route or the assistance he receives.
Chapter 23
The narrator receives help in New York, marries Anna, and settles in New Bedford.
Chapter 24
Frederick speaks at Nantucket, becomes an antislavery lecturer, and records identifying facts despite the danger of recapture.
Chapter 25
Douglass lectures in Britain and Ireland, where friends purchase his legal freedom and supporters fund a newspaper project.
Chapter 26
Douglass establishes his newspaper in Rochester and changes his views on the Constitution, voting, and disunion.
Chapter 27
Douglass asks British listeners to condemn slavery and explains how violence, law, and churches sustain it.
Chapter 31
The speaker contrasts national independence celebrations with enslaved people’s suffering and demands condemnation rather than gentler persuasion.
Chapter 32
The speaker condemns domestic slave trading and attacks the Fugitive Slave Law for extending slave hunting nationwide.
Chapter 34
The speaker grounds antislavery hope in human conscience, widening support, and resistance to the Fugitive Slave Bill.
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