Frederick DouglassAll stories have a beginning, middle, and end, and Frederick Douglass' story began as a slave and ended as a free man. Although he was born into slavery, the placement of Frederick Douglass' time spent in slavery was of great importance and accomplishment in his life timeline. His epiphanies and realizations resulting from interpreting life-changing events were, for him, the beginning, middle, and end of his life of slavery. Frederick was born in Maryland and early in his life lived on the outskirts of the plantation where his grandmother cared for him and the young children. Frederick was quite young and did not understand slavery during this stage of his life. He was not tainted by the gross evil that this entailed. He had not had the humiliating and dehumanizing experience of being an African American working on plantations. Nor had he seen violent overseers beat their slaves until they bled or take the life of a slave without repercussions. Although Frederick was kept abreast of these things for a time, it wasn't long before he was introduced to all things slavery. It took one event for him to realize that he was a slave and that he would walk that path for the rest of his time there. Although he was born a slave, he did not begin the life of a slave until he witnessed Aunt Hester's beating. While on the plantation in Maryland, the slave had an overseer named Mr. Plumber. Mr. Plumber had told Aunt Hester not to go and see a young man she liked who lived near the plantation, but she disobeyed and went to meet him. Mr. Plumber discovered Aunt Hester's defiance and saw that it was a consequence to whip her. He tied her crossed hands with rope and hung her on a hook while she stood on a stool and hit her repeatedly with the whip. As blood oozed from the cut, Douglass later commented: “I remember the first time I witnessed this horrible exhibit. I was quite a child, but I remember it well. I will never forget it as long as I remember something. It was the first of a long series of similar attacks, of which I was condemned to be a witness and participant. It hit me with terrible force. It was the blood-stained door, the entrance to the hell of slavery.