Category: Frederick Douglass

According to Frederick Douglas, slaves did not get a chance to know much about own mothers and their birthdays, such unawareness considerably influenced their mental well being – they could not be fully alive and were a kind of property of their masters. Frederick Douglas compared slaves to horses, who neither knew their age (Douglas, 25).

In fact, slavery was one of the most horrible tools, which served to destroy people’s identity, ethnicity, and humanity. Slaves were treated as animals and working tools, this is why their diminished humanity meant nothing for their masters, and slaves themselves even forgot about such a significant issue as human rights.

However, many slaves were happy to work at the Great House Farm, as it was considered to be a privilege. Slaves’ songs were some kind of evidence that slaves were happy to live and work, however, Douglas found such songs as slaves’ greatest anguish.

But still, songs were the only ones opportunities, which helped to develop slaves’ language and skills to communicate properly. It was known that many southern slaveholders preferred to keep their slaves illiterate, because they believed that if the latter could not write, they could not share their troubles with the others, describe how poor the conditions to work were, and how cruel their owners were.

According to Douglas, education and slavery were two incompatible things. Slaves did want to become educative, however, their holders deprived them from such opportunities in order to be sure that slaves did not get a chance to tell about their owners’ treatment and punishment.

In spite of the fact that many slaves were uneducated, they still could distinguish the profit from the work, be able to choose better working conditions, and even argue between themselves whose owners is the richest. To prove such assumption, Mr. Douglas used such a phrase, full of irony and sarcasm: “To be a poor man’s slave was deemed a disgrace” (Douglas, 40).

By means of numerous quotations, Douglas also wanted to underline how terrible the treatment of slaveholders was. “It was worth a halfcent to kill a ‘nigger,’ and a half-cent to bury one” (Douglas, 45) is one of such quote that proves that slave’s life did not mean anything for the owners. Slaves’ deaths were not about pity or some emotions. It was all about more money and owners’ costs, which had to be spent to bury a person.

Colonel Lloyd was the brightest example of wealth and terrible owners; he had so many slaves that “he did not know them when he saw them” (Douglas, 39). He demanded too much subservience from all his slaves and very often, his punishment was too cruel. Such wealth corrupted owners’ self of justice, because owners kept slaves ignorant and gained the necessary power, and all the play was not fair, because slaves could not resist such treatment and did obey.

Austin Gore was a proud and cruel slaveholder, whose maxim was “it is better that a dozen slaves should suffer under the lash, than that the overseer should be convicted, in the presence of the slaves, of having been at fault” (Douglas, 41). Gore killed poor Demby because the latter did not response to the calls of the former – such punishment is cruel and even inhuman.

Of course, there were people, slave-owners, who demonstrated their understanding and compassion to their slaves. Mr. and Mrs. Auld were slaveholders, where the narrator spent some time. The peculiar feature of these people was that sincere Sophia was eager to help Douglass to become more educative; however, her husband forbade her provide any assistance, because if to “give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell” (Douglas, 52).

However, the slaves of the Aulds were not the only ones, where slaves felt themselves in safe. A city slave had much more privileges in comparison to a country one. He had better clothes, food, and living conditions. City slaveholders did not want to disturb their neighbors with slaves’ cries and suffering, this is why city slave’s life was similar to a free one.

“Death of a master all too often meant that debts had to be paid and that slave families had to be divided or something sold” (Miller and Smith, 447). Mr. Douglas admits that some kind of fear and uncertainty is inherent to a slave after his/her master’s death. Slaves did not care about the death as a loss but considered it as one more factor to be bothered about.

Douglass supported that less religion and piety was something really important. It was not that important to build churches and other places to pray and ask for forgiveness. Slaves had a need of fresh air and observing sunshine in order to be ready to work better.

Frederick Douglas was a religion man, because during his work, he always admitted that his religious experience played a significant role in his education.

Due to religion, Douglas got a chance to control own emotions and choose the best way to improve his life of a slave. He considered religion as something that helped to look beyond and be ready for further challenges: “O God, save me! God, deliver me! Let me be free! Is there any God? Why am I a slave?” (Douglas, 77).

Due to such unbelievable devotion to religion, Mr. Douglas created a wonderful speech in favor of July, 4^th. This speech is considered to be the brightest words in regards to civil rights, slave freedom, and a kind of reborn of slaves and their families.

Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas. BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008.

Miller, Randal, M. and Smith, John, D. Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997.

Introduction

Frederick Douglass was born a slave and spent his life fighting for the abolition of slavery and attainment of equal rights for African Americans. His quest for justice and equality for all people made him famous. He is a historic person and his struggle to have slavery abolished continues to inspire many people today. This paper examines the Frederick Douglass Historic Site located in 1411 W Street SE, Washington, DC. The home of Frederick Douglass is located in this site. The relevance and historical significance of this site is discussed.

The Frederick Douglass Historic Site

It is at this site that the home of Frederick Douglass is preserved. The site is protected by Public Law and is meant to commemorate the life of Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass has been described as “a great abolitionist, civil rights advocate, author and statesman” (National Park Service 1).

He was greatly committed to ensuring that there justice in the treatment of all people. During his time, he was described as “the most important negro of the nineteenth century” (Hinds iii). This site helps to celebrate his contribution to the US civilization.

The home preserved in this site was Douglass’s second home. He purchased it in 1877 and made it his official residence up to the time of his passing away in 1895. The house was built by John Van Hook between 1855 and 1859. It had 14 rooms. After purchasing the house, Douglass made some additions to it.

By the time he passed away, he had increased the number of rooms in the house to 21. Among the many changes he made in the house were the conversion of “the original kitchen into a dining room and construction of a new kitchen in the south wing” (National Park Service 1). He converted two rooms which were upstairs on the west wing into three small bedrooms. He also completed the attic creating five more rooms and added a library to the house (National Park Service 1).

A number of restorations have been carried out on Douglass’ home. The first restoration was undertaken by Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association (FDMHA) in 1922 – this was 19 years after the death of Douglass’ second wife. In 1962, the custody of Douglass’ home was transferred to the National Park Service from FDMHA.

The second restoration was carried out by the National Park Service between 1962 and 1972. The house was reopened to the public in 1972. The construction of a visitor center at the site was started in 1980 and completed in 1982. The third and last restoration so far was undertaken between 2004 and 2007 (National Park Service 1).

Taking into consideration the knowledge that Douglass displayed, his library is often treated as a special place. The library is lit by three windows which are large enough to allow enough natural light in. The library is filled with many books on various topics.

There is an iron stove in the library which Douglass used to warm himself up with in the library during the winter seasons. Since it is not possible to closely examine the texts in this library, the National Park Service is making plans to avail a list of all the books Douglass had in the library (National Park Service 1).

Significance of the Frederick Douglass Historic Site

Frederick Douglass is a very significant person in the US history. To best understand the significance of this historic site, one needs to examine the significance of Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass was born a slave in 1818 but escaped from slavery at the age of 20 years (Douglass 9). He dedicated the whole of his life to fight for upholding of human dignity: “first for personal freedom, then for the freedom of his own people, and then for female equality” (National Park Service 1).

For sixteen years, Douglass edited an influential newspaper which changed its name three times. The changes in the name were as follows: “The North Star (1847-1851), Frederick Douglass’ paper (1851-1858), and The Douglass Monthly (1859-1863)” (Blight 1). He used his oratory skills and persuasive writing abilities to advance the course of his antislavery campaign. He was the voice and hope for those who were subjected to slavery and racism.

Douglass used the Civil War to advance the antislavery campaign. During the war, he was described as a “fierce propagandist of the Union cause and emancipation, a recruiter of black troops, and on two occasions as an advisor to President Abraham Lincoln” (Blight 1). It is worth noting that there was a great connection between the Civil War and abolition of slavery.

Douglass seems to have seen this connection early enough and sought to mobilize African Americans troops to fight against the South alongside the North side. He knew that the North side had to take the victory if his antislavery campaign was to bear fruits. Seemingly, he was also aware that by the African Americans joining hands with the whites in the war, they would stand a chance to demand for equal treatment afterwards.

Frederick Douglass was a selfless leader who committed himself to ensuring African Americans acquired freedom from slavery. He wisely used his knowledge, and oratory and persuasive writing skills to fight for his people.

The Frederick Douglass Historic Site therefore is of great significance. It helps visitors to remember a great leader who fought for the right values in the society. The site inspires human right activists to forge ahead with their campaign to uphold human dignity. A lot of inspiration can be drawn from the work written by Frederick Douglass and his life.

Frederick Douglass set the foundation for the liberation of the African Americans from slavery. The historic site therefore has a special connection to the very present freedom of African Americans. The site can also be viewed as a symbol of the supremacy of civilization over barbaric acts such as slavery.

Conclusion

The Frederick Douglass Historic Site preserves the home of Frederick Douglass. This site is a commemoration of the life of Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass was a great leader who fearlessly fought for the liberation of slaves. He had great oratory skills and could write persuasively. His fame rose to an international level and his campaign to have slavery abolished was successful. He is remembered as a great African American leader of the nineteenth century who helped slaves to break free from shackles of slavery.

His legacy is celebrated by people of all walks of life. He is especially a significant figure to the African Americans and generally to all the civilized societies. His life can be said to be a living testimony of the power of persistence against evils in the society. This historic site therefore stands tall as a symbol of the victory of good over evil.

Works Cited

Blight, David. Frederick Douglass. Documenting the American South, 2013. Web.

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1851. Print.

Hinds, James. Frederick Douglass Home: Cedar Hill. Historic Structures Report Part II, 1968. Web.

National Park Service. Frederick Douglass. National Park Service, 2013. Web.

Introduction

Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe Easton in Maryland. He never knew the exact time of his birth because slaves were not allowed to now such things bur from his estimation it could have been in 1818. His mother was a slave named Harriet Bailey. He heard through rumors that his father was a white man.

Douglass never got a chance to confirm those rumors with his mother because she died when he was seven years old. Unfortunately, he had been separated from her at a young age and was brought up and under the care of his grandmother Betsey Bailey. He lived through slavery and grew up to become a champion of civil rights in America. His character was core in enabling him to fight for the rights of slaves and abolition of slavery.

Bright and strong

Douglass was a bright even at an early age. He was able to discern the discrimination going on at an early because he could remember that young white children could tell their age but him and other slave children could not. He sensed the discrimination yet his quest for information about his identity was unwelcomed, “I was not allowed to make any inquires of my master concerning it” (Douglass 923). In addition, he was a strong child because he had to endure being away from his mother at an early age.

Douglass never remembers seeing her during the day and even when they saw each other at night, they did not talk much. The lack of affection from his mother made him to look at her like a stranger when she died. He says, “When I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger” (Douglass 924). Thus from his early age he had to learn to depend on his own to survive through the hard years of slavery.

Tenacious

Douglass was a tenacious boy. He was determined to gain knowledge no matter what it took. This trait is demonstrated in Baltimore while under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Mrs. Auld began to teach him how to read, however the teaching was cut short by Mr. Auld who told him that teaching niggers to read would make them rebellious and they would not remain as slaves.

Douglass overheard this conversation and his eyes were opened about the way of ending slavery- knowledge. He was determined to know how to read at whatever cost because it was this knowledge that would give him freedom.

Mr. Auld’s opposition of Douglass opportunity to read became a great motivation for him to learn how to read because he was convinced that this would be the way out of slavery according to Mr. Auld’s words. He befriended young white boys so that they could teach him to read and he had an advantage because he had already learnt the ABCs from his master’s wife. He carried a book and bread to give to the boys who in turn would give him the knowledge he so desired to acquire (Douglass 939).

Inquisitive

His inquisitive nature also helped him to become more determined to escape from slavery someday. In his conversations from the white boys, he had turned into his teachers he talked about being a slave for life. This situation made him very sad because he could not understand why he could not be free, as the white boys “Have not I as good right to be free as you have?”(Douglass 940). The thought of being a slave forever gave him the drive to gain more knowledge.

Moreover, Douglass was not only inquisitive, but also clever. He knew how to get what he wanted and in this case, he wanted to learn how to write. Therefore, he learnt how to write a four-letter word. Later he would challenge every boy who knew how to write to a contest and this way he learnt to write more words. He also coped what his master’s son Thomas had written in his books when he was left to watch the house (Douglass 942).

Patient and resilient

Patience and resilience helped Douglass to bear the suffering that came with slavery. He was sent to Mr. Covey who was called a nigger breaker. He was so cruel and his reputation spread everywhere across the plantations. Douglass endured so much suffering during his first six months working for Mr. Covey and received whippings almost every week (Douglass 950).

Although they had adequate food to eat, they did not have time to eat it because Mr. Covey always wanted them on their feet work regardless of the weather. The slaves had no choice but to obey the tough masters and Douglass bore the suffering because he had a feeling at the end he would come out of the situation. He would not remain in slavery all his life and even if it meant running away “Why am I a slave? I will run away. I will not stand it. Get caught or get clear, I’ll try it” (Douglass 952).

Stubborn

His stubbornness helped Douglass take a stand against Mr. Covey. He was aware of his disadvantaged situation as a slave but instead he chose not to bow to the pressure and fight back. For example, he sought protection from his master after the beatings of Mr. Covey even though he did not get it. In another instance, his stubbornness shone through when he fought with Mr. Covey as he tried to rope him in the stable, “I resolved to fight; and, and suiting my action to the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat” (Douglass 955).

After this incident, Douglass was not beaten again. The incident rekindled his desire for freedom and he no longer felt helpless or fear before his masters” My long crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place… the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact” (Douglass 955).

Courageous

Douglass had courage that helped him to break free from oppression. After he went to work for Mr. Freeland he took it upon himself to educate, his fellow slaves how to read. This was a courageous act because the slaves were not allowed to read to keep their minds ignorant. He was taking a risk at conducting classes with the slaves but he did it anyway because he wanted to help them.

His efforts paid of because “several of those who came to Sabbath school learned how to read and that one at least is now free through my agency” (Douglass 960). Furthermore, he planned to escape from slavery despite of the risks” for my part I should prefer death to hopeless bondage” (Douglass 961).

Conclusion

Luckily, he managed to escape from the south on his second attempt and escaped from the life of bondage although it tore his heart to leave his friends. He loved them so much and after he went to New Bedford, he joined with other abolitionist such as Mr. Johnson in efforts to end slavery. The actions that Douglass took had a lasting impact in bringing freedom to the slaves. He gave fire to the abolitionist movement that championed for the rights of slaves and his name is forever engrained in the American history.

Work Cited

Douglass, Frederick. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Vol. F. Ed. Lawall, Sarah. New York: Norton, 2002.

Introduction

Slavery was probably one of the most awful catastrophes in the history of the United States. To enlighten the people about the dreadful facts, escapee slaves noted down their accounts of slavery on paper and availed the information for the public to read. Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass are two of the numerous slaves, who wrote down their accounts of slavery. Each of them had a different experience with slavery.

Nonetheless, Frederick and Harriet shared a common experience: they relate about the repulsive tradition of slavery and the adverse effects it had on their lives. This paper aims at giving a comparative evaluation of the slavery life of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. Age, gender, responsibilities, time, and the affected region had varied impacts on slaves’ life.

Slave’s childhood life

Slavery has adverse effects to childhood life of the victims. Frederick and Harriet’s childhoods were not exceptional. As Harriet was growing up in her contented domicile as she refers to it, she was utterly safeguarded from slavery. Her father was a tremendously generous and skillful carpenter, and he was permitted to look after his family, in spite of some of his earnings going to his mistress.

During their childhood, most slaves never knew about their innate repression into slavery. However, as they continued growing up, they would start assuming responsibilities in their masters’ homes or separated from their parents. It is from this time that they started experiencing the real burden of being slaves (Jacobs 78).

On the other hand, some slaves experienced the wrath of slavery from childhood. From the beginning, their life was cruel with some being separated from their mothers at a tender age. Frederick was born a mullatto. It was after her master raped her mother. Frederick’s heritage led to him being separated from his mother’s master, and apparently, his mother.

There was a belief that when a slave bore a mullatto, the father to the child was always the master of the affected slave. This enraged the master’s wife, and the master had to sell the child away to placate her. It is this reason that led to Frederick meeting his mother for remarkably few times before she died. He was not allowed to attend in his mother’s burial or own her photo (Douglass 112).

During their childhood, different slaves related with their masters differently. Some masters and mistresses were kind. They promised their adult slaves who had children that they would free their children after their demise; a promise some did not fulfill. To some slaves, life was pathetic since birth. They constantly witnessed slaves being tortured for no reasons. They had a single shirt that they used to cover their nakedness while some walked naked.

They spent their nights on hard concrete floors with no blankets. For those that lived with kind masters or mistresses, they did not experience this ordeal until they were about twelve years old. They only learnt about the limitations of slavery from their neighboring plantations. For instance, Harriet talks about how Mr. Litch was cruel to his slaves. For a slave girl, Harriet’s childhood was noticeably good.

Effects of gender on a slave’s life

Harriet extremely emphasizes that, women slaves suffered more compared to men slaves. Throughout his book, Frederick does not mention an instance where a slaved was maltreated because of his gender. One would assume that male slaves were subjected to severe punishments relative to female slaves. However, this was not the case.

For instance, Douglass narrates about how some masters treated their slaves well in cities with the exception of one master who owned two female slaves that he punished severely. He describes how one of the two female slaves called Mary was emaciated. Apart from beating, female slaves were subjected to other sufferings that men slaves never encountered. Both Harriet and Frederick narrate about how female slaves were sexually exploited by their masters. Moreover, most of the female slaves lost their children who were sold away to other slave owners.

When Harriet was fifteen years old, Dr. Flint made his initial sexual advance towards her; however, she never gave in to his request. In spite of not abusing Harriet physically, Dr. Flint yelled and verbally abused her for turning down his request. In his bid to ensnare Harriet into engaging in sexual relationships with him, Dr. Flint would at the beginning act fiercely to make it seem as if she is supposed to surrender to all his demands, and in particular sexual demands. When this failed to work, he would pretend to be so friendly in a bid to manipulate her into succumbing to his advances. However, no matter how persuasive he acted, he could not manage to entice Harriet.

When he failed to achieve his objective through the two methods, Dr. Flint would force Harriet to look after his young daughter or wife while she is asleep. This meant that Harriet had to share a common room with Dr. Flint’s daughter. When Harriet agreed to be looking after the daughter while she is asleep, Dr. Flint shifted the daughter’s bed to his room so that he could have an opportunity to lure Harriet into having sex with him.

Fortunately, his wife’s room was adjacent to his, and she kept watching them making it hard for him to attain his goal. Since Dr. Flint flattered with Harriet, his wife directed all her marital problems towards her. She blamed her for all that was happening in her family and started treating her with extreme indecency. Harriet turned down all offers made by Dr. Flint forcing him to send her to his son’s plantation.

Douglass explains an encounter he had when working under Edward Covey. Thomas Auld had sent Frederick to Covey as a penalty for eating food from out side and going out of the plantation at night. It is during this time that Covey purchased a female slave with an aim of breeding.

He employed a married man who slept with the female and gave birth to children who added to the number of his slaves. The incidence angered Frederick to a point that he had contemplated of killing Convey and himself. These sufferings led to Harriet and Frederick deciding to escape from their masters.

Effects of time, responsibilities and region on the slave’s life

Time, slave’s responsibilities and the region where a slave worked at significantly affected the quality of life spent by an individual. Moreover, it affected one’s desire to escape from the master. Both Harriet and Douglass lived during the same slave epoch. During this period, there were eminent indifferences between the Northerners and Southerners about slavery. Northerners argued that it was unethical to enslave another human being.

The Southerners claimed that slavery was critical to their lifestyle and economy. Besides, they used excerpts from the bible to support their actions. Southerners had a myth that claimed that after God had rebuked Noah’s son, he transformed him into a black and made all his offspring slaves. However, this supposition could be disapproved by questioning why mullatto were also made slaves yet they were not direct offspring of Ham. Religious masters were too cruel since they were guided by “divine providence” and to them slaves had an obligation to serve their masters (Quarles 58).

The duties assumed by each slave influenced their way of thinking. Female slaves were in most cases were responsible for household chores and errands. These chores were not harsh, and hence they did not always think of escaping. Male slaves, on the other hand, worked under harsh conditions.

Hence, they were always thinking about how they could escape to North. In some plantations, male slaves were responsible for fanning hay, a job that left them extremely exhausted. Furthermore, their masters mistreated them by beating and kicking them, and this fueled their desire to escape (Quarles 61).

The locality under which some slaves worked also affected their lives. Some slaves resided in a small township in North Carolina, which had few people, and hence almost everybody knew them. Such slaves were popular to even the whites making it hard for their masters or mistresses to mistreat them. For instance, it was hard for Dr. Flint to mistreat Harriet, especially when she turned down his sexual advances since other whites defended her. On the other hand, some masters owned numerous plantations thus appointing overseers to represent them in some plantations.

Such overseers exercised their authority beyond what they were authorized. They were extremely harsh on the slaves and treated them cruelly. Because of the size of the plantation, some events went unnoticed by the plantation owner. Some overseers went to the extent of killing some slaves for refusing to be beaten. However, after the matter reached the plantation owners, they downplayed the issue and no steps were taken against the overseers.

Most of the slaves enjoyed working in large cities than in plantations since they were treated well in the cities. Baltimore was one of the cities where masters and mistresses were known to treat their slaves well. For some slaves, living in Baltimore made them feel like a free people. Nevertheless, they could not live in these cities forever, and time would come for them to transfer into plantations while some were sold to plantation owners. In plantations, there was a lot of work and overseers were too uncouth making slaves opt to escape.

Conclusion

Based on Harriet and Frederick’s experience, the life of slaves entailed numerous hardships from childhood to adulthood. For those that spent most of their childhood life under the care of their parents, they had limited experience about their innate bondage to slavery. However, those born mullattos, experienced the pain of being slaves since they were separated from their parents after they are born. Being a male or a female influenced one’s life as a slave.

Female slaves experienced sexual harassment from their master. Douglass describes how other masters mistreated their female slaves. The jobs done by the slaves fueled their desire to escape. Fredericks desire to escape was fueled by mistreatments and forced labor he suffered under Covey. Conversely, Harriet attended domestic chores, a task that did not exhaust her. It was until when she suffered sexual harassment that she thought of escaping.

Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. Print.

Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. New York: Dover Publications, 2001. Print.

Quarles, Benjamin. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1960. Print.

“Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass” is a biographical account of the experiences of a former slave in Maryland. The author, Fredrick Douglass was born Fredrick Bailey Circa in Maryland around 1818 as a slave in a big plantation. During his years as a slave, Douglass moved around a lot as his masters kept changing. Eventually, Douglass was able to escape slavery and relocate to New York. In New York, he started a family but his fugitive status prompted him to move further north to Massachusetts.

The author had started to learn how to read and write during his slavery days in Maryland. After he escaped, he continued with his self-education and began his activities with the Abolitionist newspaper, “Liberator”. Soon afterwards, he began giving lectures in meetings that were organized by the Abolitionist Movement. The “Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass” serves as an account of slavery as well as its interpretation.

Douglass wrote the book amid opposition from people who doubted the authenticity of his account. Most people doubted that a man as eloquent as Douglass had been a slave. The opposition to his accounts soon spread to include slave abolitionists who felt that he should concentrate on the “facts of his story” and abstain from delving into the philosophy behind slavery.

“Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass” was written as a response to the author’s critics. Douglass used real people and places’ names to ensure that the authenticity of his book could be proven. The book’s preface also maintains that Douglass is the ‘sole author’ of the book. The book was mostly intended for the stakeholders in the abolitionist movement.

This means both those supporting slavery and those who were against it could have benefited from reading the narrative. The book was very popular after it was published and it prompted the author to start his own abolitionist newspaper and write two more volumes of his narrative. The book’s popularity was occasioned by the author’s ability to tell the slavery story and interpret it even to an opinionated audience.

The book offers a personal account of the author’s time as slave. The author was born into slavery and served various masters until the time he managed to escape at the age of twenty. His account mostly revolved around the treatment he received as a slave. After his escape, a now educated Douglass would often be invited as a speaker in meetings organized by the American Anti-Slavery Society. His eloquence and his stories were very popular with audiences during such meetings.

The book begins by giving an account of the author’s origin. According to the book, the author’s mother was also a slave and his father was probably a white slave master (Douglass 24). Douglass never knew his exact date of birth as slave masters often hid this information from slaves.

The book details how Douglass was separated from his mother soon after he was born. According to him, this practice was meant to vandalize the natural bond between mothers and their children. When the author’s mother died, he was around seven years old and he recalls having no deep emotions about it. However, the author reckons that his childhood slavery experiences were much better compared to those of fellow slaves.

The subsequent chapter in the book starts with a detailed analysis of the structure and the activities of his master’s family. The life at Colonel Lloyd’s plantations was not easy for many slaves. The slaves had to report to a central point where they received their pork, fish, and corn allowances each month. Other than their meager food rations, adult slaves were given clothing once a year, a single blanket, and they had to sleep on the floor.

In the book, slaves often held the ‘great farmhouse’ in high regard and they felt privileged to be sent on an errand at this central house (Douglass 65). The author also addresses the issue of the songs that were sung by slaves while they worked. It was often misconstrued that the slaves sung out of joy while indeed the songs were bitter protests against slavery. In these two chapters, Douglass begins by doing an analysis of the institution of slavery. His insider account is very valuable to his arguments.

The third chapter of this book gives an account of Colonel Lloyd the man who owned Douglass. It starts with an interesting account of how Mr. Lloyd prevented slaves from eating the fruits in his esteemed garden. In another instance, Lloyd sells off a slave after entrapping the slave to give an honest opinion about him (Mr. Lloyd). In the next chapter, the author gives an account of the cruelty of the slave overseers who sometimes killed slaves in cold blood. These two chapters are used to explore the inhumanity of slavery and those who embrace it.

In the next two chapters, the author continues to narrate his personal experiences as a slave including his transfer to Baltimore. According to Douglass, this transfer would contribute to his quest for freedom. His life in the new household was characterized by the kindness of his mistress who even started to teach him how to read and write (Douglass 146).

However, this kindness towards him is terminated by his master and mistress. The author says his thirst for freedom started while he was in the Auld household after the initial exposure to education.

The last chapters in the book are an account of the author’s attempts at gaining freedom. These efforts include him continuing with self-education and a failed escape plot. The book ends with Douglass escaping successfully. He then reunites with Anna Murray and they get married in New York before moving further north. The author uses the book’s appendix to make a few clarifications including his take on religion.

Douglass uses his biography as a testament against slavery. His attempts are successful because of the authenticity of his personal experiences. In addition, his strong narrative and oratory skills are very valuable. As one of the earliest African-American voices against slavery, Douglass’s work serves two purposes.

The first purpose is to open his audience’s eyes against slavery. The second purpose is to act as an articulate argument against slavery by a former slave. Using real names in his book was a good authentication tool for the book even if it compromised the safety of some fellow slaves and those who aided his escape. Sometimes in this book, the author can be seen trying to defend the actions of his characters involuntarily. This can weaken his most sought after authenticity in this book.

“Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass” is one of the most significant autobiographies in history. The book is also among the first personal accounts of what slaves went through in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The detailed accounts of slavery experiences in the book serve as a historical reminder of American slavery. The book’s has remained relevant several centuries after it was first published and it is likely to remain so for many years to come.

Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of an American Slave, New York, NY: Transaction Publishers, 2009. Print.

Fredrick Douglas was born in Tuckahoe, Hillsborough, about twelve miles from Easton in Talbot county of Maryland to a white father (though not mentioned) and a black mother, Harriet Bailey. He never knew his real age or year of birth, though this was common to most the black slaves’ children in America unlike the white children who were told of their age and date of birth.

After his birth barely a year he was separated from his mother who was taken to a further distance to offer labour to the whites farms a distance of about twelve miles. He reveals that the slave’s children were left at the care of aged women who were unable to provide labour, and that this was meant to break the strong affection of the child and the mother.

Douglas says the only time he was able to be with his mother was during the night. She used to work in Mr. Stewart‘s farm some twelve miles from their home lived and had to walk the distance at night to come and see him. By early the next day, she was expected to be in the farm offering some service in the field, failure of which the penalty was being whipped thoroughly unless one had special permission from the master.

At the age of seven, he received the news about the death of his mother just as one gets the news about the death of a stranger. The loss of his mother was a big blow to him especially on the point that she had not revealed to him his father (Douglass 3).

Despite being born of two distinct worlds, he shares that the child had to bear the wrath of the mother so he was equally a slave, because any black woman who had a child with a white man had to undergo more hardships than any other slave especially if it was with the master.

At his childhood he was under two slave masters; the first one being Anthony who had thirty slaves in number under an overseer called Mr. Plummer “a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster” (Douglass 15). He was a very cruel man who always went to the farm with a cowskin and a heavy cudgel which he used to whip, cut and slash women’s heads so horribly.

The inhumane nature of Plummer forced the master to intervene and warned him of his cruelty. Douglass tells of an ugly ordeal he experienced for the first time and it was on his aunt called Hester, the mistake being she went out at night and was found in company with Lloyd`s Ned. She was made to strip off her clothes from the neck to the waist level; hands held up and crossed then tied on a hook up leaving her resting on her toes and what followed he could not comprehend until he hid himself in a closet (Douglass 17).

His second service as a slave was at Colonel Lloyd and Captain Thomas Auld`s plantation and these is where he came to the full wrath endured by the slaves, the bloody sinister. Furthermore the annual allowances given to the slaves were unbearable, as for men one coarse linen shirt and trouser and one winter trouser all made of coarse Negro cloth and any one who, missed had to go naked until the next season.

This plantation had different kinds of overseers both the barbaric and the kind hearted ones as we had those who found pleasure in whipping the slaves and even killing them. Douglas was the lucky one as his age did not allow him to work in the fields, but chase the fowls from the farm and other small duties.

A message of good hope came to him concerning his move to Baltimore and indeed it was good news just from the way he is to disguise himself that is to be smart. Even after moving to the place got a warm welcome from his master to be and put in charge of young Thomas Auld whom he was to take care of. It opened his desire to get knowledge and write about the slavery life. His mistress, a kind hearted woman, laid the foundation by starting to teach him the alphabets and later how to spell words of three or four letters.

The master was in great objection of these saying “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master–to do as he is told to do. Learning would ~spoil~ the best nigger in the world. Now” (Douglass 31). These did not deter his efforts to get knowledge which he would use to liberate his fellow slaves but sparked a strong desire to want to learn more.

He discovered that their existed a large rift between the slaves in the city and those that lived in the countryside. Those in cities were less mistreated, given good food and clothing and the work they did was not an overload that’s why he notes that “a city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation” (Douglass 32).

Most of the masters in the city were after providing the best to their slaves except for one Mr. Thomas Hamilton and his wife who mistreated their two slaves Mary and Henrietta. The two were emaciated and skinny as a result of denial of enough food thus leading to Mary contending with the pigs on the streets for the thrown offal.

Though he was denied access to learning materials in his master’s house, Fredrick planned his own strategy of getting knowledge and that was by befriending many white children on the streets who taught him how to read. Having acquired skills on how to read, he came across a book that inspired him a lot “The Columbian Orator” where he learned of emancipation of slaves after the incidence of a slave who tried to escape thrice but was later emancipated by his master.

It also talked of Catholic Emancipation a speech given by one Sheridan and this was enough knowledge to him as he was able to know of the benefits the slaves had to gain and their human rights.

Although, he had all these within his confines but their was little he could do to save them as he was only twelve years old. He felt like he had poisoned himself with that knowledge that had opened to him his whole but nothing could be done. One word that its clear meaning was not known to him was “abolition”.

After helping some Irishmen to unload their stones from their truck they heed to him the idea to escape and head to the North but the biggest fear was they mighty monopolize from his escape by getting him back and then being paid by his master. So he pretended to have heard nothing from them. These helped him plan his escape effectively and made much effort in knowing how to write which he perfected after a long struggle.

After years of being subjected to torture by his former slave masters, Douglas was at last a free man on the 3^rd September 1838. These was the time he arrived in New York although starting life and trying to adapt to it was a hard task as he knew nobody, and the other thing being he feared he might fall prey of kidnappers who were after stranded fugitives. But his happiness was that he was no longer a slave, at a place where everybody was friendly, though he had no place to call home or anybody he knew.

Before he could stay long in that state of disarray in a strange city, came a very kind hearted man called Mr. David Ruggles who took him to his house where also took care of other fugitive slaves. He inquired to know more about him and where he wished to go and when Douglas told him of his desire to go to Canada he objected and advised to go to New Bedford where he could secure some employment to sustain my survival.

There was a religious marriage between Douglas and Ann who was also a slave but free organized by Mr. Ruggles who invited Rev J.W.C. Pennington who presided over the ceremony. They were kindly hospitalized when they arrived in New Bedford; even where they had left their luggage for lack of fare it was settled by the owner of where they were welcomed.

He thought at first that people of the North were extremely poor considering the fact that they owned no slaves that they never enjoyed any luxuries unlike the southern slaveholders, but that was not the case when he stepped in New Bedford, their were so many riches and everybody lived and enjoyed the life.

He lived with one Mr. Johnson, a humble, kind and hardworking man, together with his wife the kind of life he had never lived with the likes of Covey, Hugh and many other slave masters.

It gave him confidence to fight for the liberation of all slaves in the South and to preach for the abolition of slavery. Douglas openly admits that the religion in the South among the masters was indeed a false pretence because they claimed to be devoted Christians and even had church leaders come to their houses often but they never ceased from mistreating their subjects.

He observed that people in the North had strong faith in Christianity that’s why everybody was working thereby not being able to note the difference between the master and the servant. He further brings out how they would pray for God to bless them and fill their stores with more grain yet on the other side they are extra mean starving their slaves, the worst of all being their whipping of the slaves and even slashing their heads and feeling pleasure in doing so yet claim to be religious people.

Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick (1963). Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. New York: Forgotten Books. Print.

It is hard to ignore the fact that most of the historic events that took place in the USA up to the middle of the XX century were carried out by white men; slavery, a monstrous stain on the nation’s history, did not allow any of the African American population make the least change to the history of America. Every rule has its exceptions, and here is the one for the rule mentioned above.

Frederick Douglass, a Black man who had the heart to stand his ground in the darkest times of the U.S. history, soon became the symbol of the rebellious American nation – and was forgotten just as quickly. Contributing to the ideas that the modern principles of the American democracy are based on nowadays, Frederick Douglass wrote a number of works on slavery, its dreadful effects and the slavery abolition as the basic principle of humanity.

When speaking of Douglass’s key contribution into the development of the abolitionist movement and change of the history of the United States, his numerous autobiographic writings should be mentioned first. One might argue that writing about one’s life as a captive could not be that hard a deal; however, taking into account the fact that Douglass’s autobiographies and major works came out in 1840s and 1850s , i.e., several decades prior the time when an African American citizen was considered a human being (Berlin, 2003).

As it has been mentioned, biographies made the greatest chunk of Douglass’s writing. Telling about the horrors of living as a slave, Frederick managed to capture time in a bottle – even nowadays, his writing rings of the desire to get rid of the ball and chain.

Again, if narrated form a position of a typical slave whose everyday misery of a life could call for nothing but pity, the writing would have passed unnoticed; however, told from the perspective of a rebel who would not bear to be treated like an animal, it gained weight in a millisecond: “When a man raises himself from the lowest condition in society to the highest, mankind pay him the tribute of their admiration” (Douglass, 1994, 125).

In his autobiographies, Douglass did not mourn his fate or the fate of any other African American who had been born into slavery; instead, Douglass explained his position on slavery and proved his point by offering graphic examples from his own life. In addition, Douglass made the reader realize how an average American sees the Black community: “He [the slave boy] is never expected to act like a nice little gentleman, for he is only a rude little slave” (Douglass, 1994, 125). A mix between Douglass’s life story and an interpretation of his political and social convictions, his autobiography offers a lot of food for thoughts.

Apart from Douglass’s extensive descriptions of his life and convictions, there are a number of issues concerning Douglass that make modern public gasp in delight, and Douglass’s amazing courage is one of those things. A quality often found in the people who influenced the world history, being brave could hardly be considered an issue worth bringing up if Frederick Douglass had not been African American. Needless to mention, the traditions of treating Black people that the South dictated the entire state did not involve allowing slaves to express their concerns about slavery.

What Frederick Douglass wrote in the distant XIX century could be enough for the crowd to lynch him without waiting for the jury to decide, not to mention that the jury would have, probably, been on the side of the white population. However, by a very narrow escape, Douglass managed to let the world know about his opinion on slavery.

The fact that the American society gave Douglass a green light for expressing his opinion could mean either that the society was too busy dealing with the abolitionist movement that was getting out of hand, or that the nation was ready for the major change and the acknowledgement of Black people’s rights. Either way, the series of autobiographies that Douglass produced obviously had their effect on the American society and the outcome of the Civil War.

It would be wrong, however, to believe that Douglass’s influence on the fight for the abolition of slavery was restricted to writing papers protesting against using Black people as slaves. Though Douglass could be described as a man of thought rather than a man of action, he also accomplished much. There were a lot of instances when Douglass delivered a speech on the significance of abolitionism; however, the pivoting one was definitely the speech that sounded during the meeting of the Bristol Anti-Slavery Society. As the existing records say,

He subscribed to William Lloyd Garrison’s weekly journal The Liberator, and in 1841 heard Garrison speak at the meeting of Bristol Anti-Slavery Society. At one of these meetings, Douglass was unexpectedly asked to speak. After he told his story, he was encouraged to become an anti-slavery lecturer. (Douglass, 2009, 118)

Since Frederick Douglass preferred civilized arguments to rough actions, it is clear that most of his deeds concern the realm of discussions and public appearances. Delivering his passionate speeches about equality as the key principle that the American society should be based on, Douglass made it possible for the African Americans to gain their right to be free like any other people. However, there was still a long way of fighting racial prejudices ahead (Shapiro, 2012).

It is worth noticing that Douglass does not spare his time to tell about the agony of being a slave, but starts right from his first attempt to gain his freedom. In the XIX America, such approach had the effect of a bomb, making people discuss the problem and, therefore, bringing it to the national agenda.

One of the few Black people who have become recognized widely not only among fellow African Americans, but also among the representatives of all nations, and not only for the period of the Civil War, but also for as long as history of the humankind will last, Frederick Douglass is definitely person worth remembering about.

His courage was amazing, and his talents as a writer and a speaker for the enslaved nation were truly incredible. It is a shame that nowadays, the name of Frederick Douglass hardly rings any bell for an average American citizen; remembering about Douglass and his contribution into building the American society as we know it is the least what we can do to honor his memory.

Reference List

Berlin, I. (2003). Generations of captivity: A history of African-American slaves. Harvard, MA: Harvard University Press.

Douglass, F. (1994,). The autobiographies. New York, NY: Literary Classics of the United States.

Douglass, F. (2009). A narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. New York, NY: Random House.

Shapiro, T. M. (2012). The hidden cost of being African American: How wealth perpetuates inequality. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Introduction

Slavery had many negative effects on the enslaved people as discussed by Douglass in the book, “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” and McPherson in the book, “What they fought for 1861-1865”. Reflecting on the life of Douglass Frederick and written in prose form, the narrative defines the thoughts of the author on various aspects of slavery from the social, economic, security, and the need for appreciation of human rights perspectives.

On the other hand, the book, “What they fought for 1861-1865” is vital in understanding history of America and how wars change the social and political systems. Thus, this analytical treatise attempts to explicitly compare and contrast the views of Douglass and McPherson on effects of slavery on enslaved people and slave owners.

Effects of slavery on enslaved people

Across the first six chapters, Douglass explores several instances when slavery created an unequal social and economic environment between the slaves and those who enslaved them. To begin with, unlike the white children, Douglass and other blacks were not allowed to know their date of birth.

The children of the slaves were separated from their mothers by the slave owners at a tender age. The female slaves were subjected to sexual abuse by their owners and the children, out of these sexual exploits, were forced by the law to become slaves (Douglass, 13).

The slaves were subjected to vicious attacks by their mean masters. For instance, Aunt Hester was violently whipped by the Captain in what Douglass described as a hellish encounter. Besides, Mr. Gore, who is a ranch foreman, promptly shot a slave called Demby for refusing to vacate the creek after enduring physical attack by the mean and proud supervisor (Douglass, 31).

The slaves were never given beds and had to survive on bare minimal allowances consisting of a single piece of linen, pork and hardly enough corn. The freedom of speech and expression were not part of the master-slaver relationship. For instance, Colonel Lloyd was very mad at the honesty of one of the slaves that he had to sell him for speaking the truth.

Same as Douglass’ views on the effects of slavery on enslaved people, McPherson’s book defines the American conflict as greatly contributed by the inhuman treatment of slaves. He states that the “confederates fought for independence, for their property and way of life, for their survival as a nation” (McPherson, 27).

McPherson captures the memoirs of the soldiers and their resentments on brutality, sexual harassment, and denial of freedom of expression as the underlying factors which inspired them to go into the battle field.

McPherson underlines the ideological commitment and patriotism of the soldiers as a result of deep convictions to seek independence, freedom, and basic human rights for the slaves. Reflectively, “a large number of those men in blue and gray were intensely aware of the issues at stake and passionately concerned about them” (McPherson, 4). The author represents human interaction and belonging to a particular ideology as elevating visions of human society as free of slavery.

Due to unstructured relationship between the slaves and their masters, harmony balance was threatened by sudden changes in the social systems as influenced by the capitalist oriented slave owners. This brought questions on how people need to stay together and to attain their needs equitably, without involving in overindulgence, selfishness, and myopia.

Many soldiers endeavored to comprehend the revolutionary implications of the conflict as it continued to evolve in an ordinary arena of ideological expression within their scope of view (McPherson, 31).

Understanding the position of the slaves, in the then human society, requires critical analysis of cognitive values attached to practices, beliefs, and social dynamics which controlled and aligned the society towards astute of simultaneously interacting functions.

State of anarchy as a result of the conflict brought threat to the peaceful coexistence as a result of life interference brought about by slavery. Unlike Douglass who lived through the experience, McPherson adopted the passive voice in reporting the thoughts and views of the soldiers on slavery (Henretta and Brody, 21).

Effects of slavery on slave owners

Douglass reflects on cheap labor, abuse of power, exploitation of humanity, expansion of profits, and entertainment as the benefits that slave owners had. To begin with, the slaves were treated as a commodity and provided cheap and abundant labor to the slave owners operating as a human exploitation cartel.

Captain Anthony, Gore, and other slave owners become very successful since they expanded their farms by exploiting the free labor provided by the slaves. The slaves were also objects of entertainment, sexual exploits, and part of assets which would quantify a slave owner’s wealth. Douglass, Demby, and other slaves are reminded of their position as servants of the powerful slaver owners (Douglass, 21).

The author identifies the need to expand dominance as factor which influenced the slave owners to buy slaves for their expansive ventures. Douglass is successful in linking the social, economic, and cultural elements of the slave owners to the establishment of a tight system of selling and buying slaves at will, irrespective of age or choice.

The growing interest from both ends of the divide spurred the slave trade relationship. This trade was protected from external interferences by the laws that slave owners and other agencies quickly created, especially when a situation demanded for such (Douglass, 21).

On the other hand, McPherson highlights the great economic leap experienced by the slave owners who capitalized on weak laws, influential organizations, and intimidation to reap maximum benefits, without having to incur any major costs of production. He explores the social class structure and how economics influenced the nature of the relationship the soldiers had with past experiences.

The author is successful in establishing the basic elements of social class structure as determined by the ability to organize unwilling human beings as commodities of sale in the form of slaves (McPherson, 23).

In unison, Douglass displays the ungratefulness and cunning nature of the slave owners towards their slaves despite getting free labor and maximum returns (Douglass, 31). Excessive harassment by the slave owners spilled into conflict as the soldiers were determined to restore their lost right (McPherson, 13).

Conclusion

The authors display a ferocious literature that identifies the aspects of racism and stereotyping in the early society of America as a result of slavery and slave trade. Slavery is presented as having imprisoned the blacks and half casts who are traded in the labor market as a commodity. The unfair treatment of slaves by the slave owners inspired conflict as the soldiers were determine to restore their rights and those of the slaves.

Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. New York, NY: Harvard University Press, 2009. Print.

Henretta, James, & Brody David. America: A Concise History. New York, NY: Bedford, 2009. Print.

McPherson, James. What they fought for 1861-1865. New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1995. Print.

Introduction

Frederick Douglass, a notable anti-slavery activist, managed to present the different aspects of slavery to convince the audience of its abnormality. In this work, extracts from three of his speeches are analyzed. Among the essential components of these speeches were his self-posture as a victim of slavery and the embodiment of the black experience and his black nationalism.

Analysis

Frederick Douglass was an eminent abolitionist and statesman known as a skilled orator and writer. As a former slave, who escaped to freedom, he was a fierce opponent of slavery. In his writings and speeches, Douglass condemned slavery and supported the rights of black people, as well as the other oppressed groups. The analyzed document contains excerpts from his three speeches, “What to the slave is the fourth of July?” “The internal slave trade,” and “The slavery party.”

All three speeches are devoted to the topic of slavery, taking its different aspects into consideration. In “What to the slave is the fourth of July?” the orator drives the attention of his audience to a serious contradiction: Americans consider the Declaration of independence a document that proclaimed freedom, but this freedom has no relation to black people. “The internal slave trade” reflects on another contradiction: people in America often condemn the external slave trade as a horrible thing, but the same people think that the internal slave trade is normal while it is no less horrible. “The slavery party” is concentrated on the political aspect of slavery. Douglass characterizes the political lobby of slavery as a separate “party,” whose members, no matter Whigs or Democrats, do their best to support slaveholding and suppress abolitionism, as well as, promote the expatriation of all the free colored people from America.

An important component of the three speeches is the subject-position of the author. Being a former slave, Douglass refers to his experience and uses it to illustrate his notions about the horribleness of slavery. In “What to the slave is the fourth of July?” he presents himself as the symbol of black Americans in general. Addressing to white people, he says that the celebration is theirs, not his and that this day (July 4, 1776) has brought life to them but death to him. Surely, Douglass was not there in 1776, as well as his audience; this speech figure means that Douglass adopts the whole past experience of black people in America as his own, personal experience. Similarly, in “The internal slave trade,” Douglass tells that he has been seeing the slave trade every day as a child. At the moment of the speech, he is probably not seeing it so frequently, but he still feels it, which means that he adopts the present experience of black people as well. In the same way, he calls the suffering of black people “our misfortunes.”

In the selected three speeches, Douglass also develops a specific concept of freedom. As he claims, the current understanding of freedom by American society is deeply flawed. Many people believe that the signing of the Declaration of Independence brought freedom and that America is the land of liberty. However, Douglass states, it is not true liberty until slavery is ended. True freedom, as Douglass is sure, is a natural right of any person; all people are entitled to freedom. To Douglass, it seems ridiculous that the rights of black people to their liberty is a question for discussion. He believes that is should be logically understood that all people, no matter their race, should have basic human rights, including freedom. The orator also includes a religious component to his discourse. He convinces his audience that slavery is not godlike, that it was not God who created slavery, that slavery is opposed to His laws, and that He does not justify a breach of someone’s right to be free.

Another essential component of Douglass’s concepts developed in the three speeches is nationalism or, to be more precise, black nationalism. It can be seen in the sentences, where he refers to black people as “us” and white people as “you.” Such a rhetoric opposition can be considered a nationalist feature. Douglass presents black people as a separate entity with its own unique historical experience and features. Douglass also does not share the traditional “American” (in fact, white American) values such as honoring the Declaration of Independence as a charter of liberty. One more nationalist feature is that, in a political aspect, he does not divide Americans by their political views (Whigs or Democrats); instead, he divides them by their attitude to black people. Douglass also does not recognize “American” as a national identity. For his, “black” is a national identity. A racial definition of national identity, as well as the recognition of black people as a separate entity, makes him a black nationalist.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the selected speeches of Frederick Douglass reflect him as a strong opponent of slavery, who used his subject-position, a specific understanding of freedom, and black nationalist doctrine to form convincing arguments.

Introduction

In the study of African American rights, one does not fail to come across people, who stood bravely in pursuit of a better society. Slavery was legal in the United States with black people being depicted as a lesser human. Two men Malcolm X and Fredrick Douglass lived through different but very challenging times (Douglass and Stepto 45).

They abhorred slavery, seeing it in the light of the denial of fundamental human rights. By writing the essays “A Homemade Education and Learning to read and write” they both use the power of words as a door to freedom. In the history of writing, Malcolm X and Fredrick Douglass are the two most inspirational people on account of their life underwent struggle in their period and helped to turn it around (Wainstock and X 10).

Physical environment

Frederick Douglass lived in Master Hugh’s family for close to seven years. He was a slave for life who depended on the mercies of his masters. At that time, it was deemed an offense for a slave to learn how to read and write. Douglass had a mistress who was kind-hearted and could relate to the pain of slavery as the slaves themselves. She started to teach him how to read the alphabet. However, as time passed and upon the influence of her husband, “the tender heart became stone, and her lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness” (Douglass and Stepto 50).

The general view was that when a slave learns how to read, they could be uncontrollable. The mistress took it upon herself to prevent such from happening and even denied him the luxury of reading any newspapers (Douglass and Stepto 59).

Malcolm X grew up in the times when slavery was being practiced in the United States. He dropped out of school in eighth grade. He was challenged in the area of writing and was incapacitated without the skill and ability to write letters to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. The only way and words he knew were slang and wondered how he would sound saying things like, “Look daddy let me pull your coat about a cat, Elijah Muhammad” (Wainstock and X 10). He was then to be imprisoned, and inside the four walls of the prison, he developed the urge to write. Bimbi gave him the motivation to want to write better.

Social influences

Faced with these hardships, Fredrick was good at making friends with the little white boys. He used to visit them at different times and shared with them the challenges and intricacies of being a slave. He expressed to them; they are far luckier since, at their young ages, they were subject to their guardian’s rules, however, after attaining twenty-one years old they would be free men. He on the other end was a slave for life and could not do anything to alter that. This brought him to hope that someday something will occur, and he would be able to be a free man. The idea of being a slave for life was a pain in his heart and soul (Douglass and Stepto 65).

Malcolm X, on the other hand, was a famous and respected person in black society. He was fast in making friends and when he talked, his audience connected with him. This caused them to respect him. In prison, he envied Bimbi due to his ability to control conversations and being a social person; he wanted some of that to further his communication ability (Wainstock and X 15).

Process of self-education

Frederick made teachers of his newfound white boys from the poor background with the exchange of a loaf of bread for some sort of training. At twelve years old he held the book called “The Columbian orator.” Here Fredrick first read about the expressed master and slave dialogue that was written in the book. He later read an article from Sheridan about the Catholic emancipation. This book arose from the expression of the many thoughts that previously had come to his mind. The light of truth dawned on him, and he now could understand the relationship between a slave and a master better. He reasoned and judged them to be robbers who stole people from their peace-loving country back in the continent of Africa only to take them far and enslave them (Douglass and Stepto 61).

After his quest to learn to read was successful, he trained his ambitions on learning how to write as well. He started to learn by observing how the carpenters of a ship wrote down some measurements and grew his keen interest even mastering the letters they wrote. Later using a book called Webster’s spelling book, he started copying the italicized words and perfected his handwriting. He would then revert to his character of turning the young children into teachers and by so helping him learn even more. He later used Master Thomas copy-book and advanced his handwriting.

He started with a dictionary by slowly putting down word by word from a page. He then would concentrate upon trying to read his own words. He came to learn a lot of words together with their meanings. He moved on until he covered the whole dictionary. With this, his word knowledge was highly enriched together with his comprehension of some different words. According to him, ” I suppose it was inevitable since my word-based broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book read and understand what the book was saying”(Douglass and Stepto 70).

Effect of knowledge

While knowledge opened the eyes of both, it added joy to Malcolm X and sorrows to Frederick. The rush of knowledge made him dislike and even start to hate his masters. He now understood clearly what slavery was all about. He longed for discussions that revolved around slavery and liberation. His brain was alive to the acts against humanity that the masters were imposing on them. With more knowledge, he couldn’t stand them:

As I read and contemplated the subject, behold! That very discontent which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read had already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish. As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It gave me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity (Douglass and Stepto 102).

He thought of animals as being more privileged than he was and longed-for death. Malcolm X knowledge discovery had more of a pleasurable liberating feeling. He was immersed and forgot his misery of being in a prison. Any free time he got, he spent it reading more and more (Wainstock and X 18). Through his ability to read better he became fascinated by the white man from all over the world.

Time period

Frederick’s paper was written way back in 1845, he was born into slavery. Malcolm’s paper was written in 1965, which is more than a hundred years later. The former lived in a harsher time than the latter. Malcolm was privileged to school up to the eighth-grade, learning way through the alphabet. Frederick had to educate himself and went through a lot to do that. It was at a time when if caught he could have been killed. His move to seek literacy was a matter of life or death.

The two stories show the continuity of the struggle that was for African Americans. Malcolm X, however, was assisted by the prison authorities in his quest for materials to further his writing and reading (Wainstock and X 20).

Conclusion

In the history of writing, Malcolm X and Fredrick Douglas are two most inspirational people who on account of their life underwent struggle in their period and helped to turn it around. During harsh times when the population needed liberators these two men refused to settle for the status quo and risked their lives to stand for what they believed in. They both had measures of functional inabilities that fueled their search for knowledge.

They both reflect on the importance of words as a powerful tool for fighting oppression. The irony of it is that they realized that by being more educated they were setting themselves up to be targets of fury from the white people. The extent through which they went to acquire some basic rights teaches society to appreciate and value the freedom it enjoys. These two challenges the modern present world to eradicate illiteracy among its population.

Works cited

Douglass, Frederick, and Robert B. Stepto. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Cambridge: The Belknap press of Harvard University press, 2009. Print.

Wainstock, Dennis D, and Malcolm, X. African American Revolutionary. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, 2008. Print.