http://people.cedarville.edu/employee/woodm/03_frederickd_simmons1.htm
The Narrative Life of Federick Douglass
by Ryan Simmons
Introduction
The story begins in the year of 1830 in the state of Maryland where we meet the Lloyd family, the former owners of Mr. Frederick Douglass. Captain Lloyd owned a large estate, with several hundred slaves spread across different plantations. While on a trip away from home, Captain Lloyd died suddenly, leaving no will explaining the division of his property among his heirs. The first narrative, called "Valuation and Division'. is a description of the events that followed. 
In the next piece we jump into the future nearly 170 years and 6 generations. Today is the hundredth birthday of Grandma Lloyd grand daughter of the old Captain. Her children, grand children, andgreat grandchildren have come from all across the country to wish her a happy birthday. The story focuses in on two grandchildren named Alexis and Elijah who discover a box full of memories from the past. 
While searching through the box several interesting pieces of history are found the first is a tattered Slave Code of Conduct. Several photographs and a peculiar letter are also found within the old box. The following pages contain these items.

The final piece is a brief poem describing the thoughts of a slave. It is a cry for freedom, for happiness, and for humanity. It is the author's hope that the readers of the content of this project will open the mind to new ideas and forbid any return to the old way of things. The past must be remembered, and the future must be considered in its light. 
Slave Code of Conduct
• The man whose charge you are now in will be called your master at
all times. 3 
• You will obey every command of your master or you will be punished, and it will be swift. 
• No Negro shall ever look a white many eye to eye. 
• No Negro shall speak to his master or his master's family directly. 
• Negroes are not to question their master or show disrespect for his authority in any way. 
• No Negro shall be educated in the ways of religion, literacy or arithmetic. 
• Reprimand for disobedience will be given out as the master sees fit. Punishment may include harder tasks, less sleep, less food, paddling or flogging. 
• You will be awakened in the morning by the ringing of a bell at the hour of 5 O'clock. You are to be out in the fields working the ground within ten minutes or you will be given ten lashes along with a harder job. 
• Any work that you need to accomplish in your living quarters must be accomplished on your time, not the master's time. 
• You will work year round except for the Lord's Day, for the Lord has declared that day of a rest. On that day you may do as you see fit within the limits of the plantation. 
• During the winter you will be given a two week period of rest for Christmas. During this time you may visit family, but only under the pretence of your return before the end of the seasonal break. If you are not back before the end of the two week period, punishment will follow and you will no longer receive a Christmas rest. 
• At the beginning of every year you shall receive two linen shirts, one jacket, two pairs of trousers, one pair of stockings and one pair of shoes. 
• You are responsible for the upkeep of the clothing, for you shall not receive any more till the next year. 
• At the beginning of every month you will receive eight pounds of pork or its equivalent in fish, and one bushel of corn meal. 
• You will only eat when your master tells you to eat; no sooner and no later. Meal times of lunch and dinner shall last no more than a quarter hour. 
Conclusion
A great sin was committed when one man put value on another. From the scarred backs and broken spirits of the Negro slaves to the cruel brutality of their overseers to a public who stood idly by, America was left disfigured by the heavy chains of slavery. So many in the North
and South alike turned their heads and looked the other way. They saw the cotton, the tobacco and the sugar cane, but they did not wish to look deep enough to see who's sweat and blood had been used to harvest them. 
A brave few forced the blind and deaf of the country to see and hear what slavery was doing. The most powerful voices came from the slaves themselves. Once given the means of literacy, the horrors which they had endured were brought into vivid focus. Frederick Douglass, a former slave to the Lloyd family, was one of the loudest voices against slavery before the Civil War. 
The preceding pages have been a fictional representation of the Lloyd family plantation based on Douglass' accounts. From the box found in the attic, the lives of the slave and the plantation owner alike have been revealed. From the Slave Code of Conduct to the letter, the dehumanization of the slave and the Lloyds themselves are evident. 
The question is raised, "How does any of this affect me?" We are, of course, in modern times and slavery has been long dead. Slavery is indeed deceased on paper, but in the hearts and minds of so many, slavery is still very real. Slavery was not merely the owning of another human being, but the acceptance that one was worth less than the other. 
This devaluing of life still happens daily. Hate crimes, shootings like Columbine, employees murdering their coworkers and flooded prisons are all signs that people are still trying to devalue the lives of others. The writing of Frederick Douglass resounds as loudly today against modern culture as they did against the 19th century audience. If society ignores his words, then the devaluing will continue. We must work to learn from the past, not relive it.