Why didn't Frederick know how old he was when he was sold away from Colonel Lloyd's plantation?

would not
have known for sure how old he was when he was sold because he would not have had any education
and because his age would not have been emphasized.

We always now how old we
are because our society emphasizes it and because we are educated enough to always be aware of
what year it is.  By contrast, slaves would not have had either of these things be true.  Slave
masters would not have made big deals about their slaves' birthdays.  The slaves would not have
had calendars.  So even the parents would not have known exactly when their kids were
born.

Even my grandparents (from the Philippines) did not know their
birthdates for sure.  They were told that the were born around some particular time on the
Church calendar, but not the exact date.  They were not told the year because that wasn't really
seen as all that important.

So when your society doesn't really think your
age is important, and you and your family are not educated, how are you going to know how old
you are?