Douglass returned to Master Thomas Auld's household in St. Michael's, Talbot County, Maryland, in March 1832. His new master gave him little food to sustain himself, for Auld was born poor and only acquired property and slaves through marriage. Douglass and other slaves were apparently very contemptuous of him. Douglass describes Thomas as "a slaveholder without the ability to hold slaves . . . [and] incapable of managing his slaves either by force, fear, or fraud." Thomas Auld became religious during Douglass' stay with him, but his newfound Christianity did not make him any kinder. Instead, Thomas "found religious sanction for his cruelty" and quoted scriptures while whipping slaves. After nine months, Thomas found Douglass unmanageable and decided to "lend" him for one year to Edward Covey, a poor farmer who was known as a superb slave breaker. Slave owners who could not control their slaves sent them to Covey for "training"; in return, Covey had free use of these slaves for the farms that he rented.
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