Video Version: https://youtu.be/2TJHOrDC-NAFrederick Douglass was born on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland. His mother was a slave and when Frederick was born, he became a slave, too. Life as a slave was very difficult, especially for a child. He seldom saw his mother who died when he was ten years old. A few years later, he was sent to serve the Auld family in Baltimore. Around the age of twelve, his master's wife, Sophia Auld began to teach Frederick the alphabet. It was against the law