Edward Covey was an early 19th-century American slaveholder. He is described by Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...

 in My Bondage and My Freedom

My Bondage and My Freedom

My Bondage and My Freedom is an autobiographical slave narrative written by Frederick Douglass and published in 1855. It is the second of three autobiographies written by Douglass, and is mainly an expansion of his first , discussing in greater detail his transition from bondage to liberty...

(published in 1855) as a "a first rate hand at breaking young negroes". In 1833, Douglass was rented to Covey for a year so that Covey would break the teenage slave's spirit. One day, after numerous vicious beatings at Covey's hands, Douglass fought back. He fought off Covey's cousin and his fight with Covey himself, which lasted nearly two hours long, ended in a draw. Covey did not physically assault Douglass thereafter.

In 2003, then United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...

 bought a Georgian home in the village of Saint Michaels, Maryland (an hour and a half from Washington, D.C.) that is located where Covey's old home was, Mount Misery.

External links

• My Bondage and My Freedom at Project Gutenberg.