They encouraged slaves to tell their stories in written form and at public meetings. Frederick Douglass became one of these spokesmen. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, Douglass told a touching story of his life as a slave and his escape to freedom. He told of horrendous acts by white slave owners on the persons of their slaves. Many masters were cruel and beat their slaves for small mistakes causing, as Douglass said, “the hot, red blood… dripped on the floor” (949). According to Douglass, he had witnessed the murder of a slave and knew that the murderer had received no punishment for the crime. Since slaves could not witness the facts of a crime, this was the norm in such situations. White slave owners were a law unto themselves regarding any actions they could take against their property (slaves). Although the life of slaves was difficult, that of female slaves was even worse. Not only were they subjected to the same abuse as males and forced to work just as hard, but many were also subjected to forced sexual encounters with their masters or overseers. Children born from such encounters were also slaves as their status was determined by that of their mother. Children were usually taken from their mothers by the end of the first