Category: Frederick Douglass

Politics and general political theory has always been both a polarizing and controversial topic to write on. The readers often come from various political and social backgrounds that have shaped their views of the world and society. Consequently, poetry, stories, or whatever one is creating which envelops the political theme, is often not well received by those who think or believe differently. It is a rare occurrence when the topic or theme the author is exploring in their work is so universally correct, and innate common sense that it is accepted among readers who are from all different backgrounds. This is true in Martín Espada’s Litany at the Tomb of Frederick Douglass, a poem illustrating the eternal and healing impact the life of Frederick Douglass brought to people of all walks of life, especially those of African American descent. The poem illustrates the stark differences between the inclusive and diverse times of modern day America and the segregated times Douglass had to fight through to achieve change. The equality Douglass fought for reached its height when Barack Obama was elected president.

Written in the wake of President Barack Obama’s historic 2008 presidential election victory, the poem reveals a deeper level to Espada’s overall work and aim for writing. In this poem, the speaker describes the scene of post-election chaos and celebration that centered around Douglass’ grave for days, weeks, and even years after such a historic and defining event such as a political race. But more than that, it describes the scene of Douglass’ life and accomplishments foremost in the speakers mind; a tale of triumph and profound change despite much of the country against him.

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery and did not know a life apart from it. The defining and remarkable characteristic of Douglass that has caused him to be so influential is that he could read and write. He, save for a few lessons by his master’s wife, mostly taught himself how to be literate. He employed this knowledge of how to read and write once he escaped slavery and was renowned among abolitionists and free slaves alike (“Face of His Race”). He used his rhetorical and oratory skills to shed light on his personal experiences as a slave and fought for an absolute reformation and great awakening among the different people groups of America.

Douglass was, and in many capacities, still is, a prominent figure in fighting for equality; working towards civil rights and empowered African Americans to develop their own skills and to take responsibility for their actions in this life. Douglass was quoted as saying, “You have seen a man made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man” ( Douglass 102). This quote sums up the work Douglass did on behalf of the hundreds and thousands of people who had no voice, who did not have the platform he so powerfully held.

The poem rejoices in the profound change Douglass brought about in the country and the change he enacted, all in the backdrop of the latest presidential election. Through his writing, Espada reflects on how the nation has overcome its infamous reputation of racism, contrasting Douglass’s time with the present:

This is the tomb of a man in chains, who left his fingerprints on the slavebreaker’s throat so the whip would never carve his back again; now a labor union T-shirt drapes itself across the stone, offered up by a nurse, a janitor, a bus driver. (Mays, 768)

Perhaps the most visible failure of this country has been the lack of voice and representation of the minorities that help to populate it. White supremacy and racial injustice plagued the people for so long. This is why the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States was such a remarkable feat. There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief that rippled across each and every state. The country had, for the most part, moved past their collective racism and racial profiling, so much so, that they had elected a black president. The people had elected a person of color to lead, fight for, and protect them in their most vulnerable of times. They had put the type of man, who at one point in history, was considered only ⅗ of a person into the highest office of the land. This showcases a population, once segregated by absolute hatred of anyone and everyone who did not look like them and the transformation they underwent to become diverse and inclusive. The writer’s didactic words intend to speak on the heroic life and accomplishments of Frederick Douglass, not the succession of Obama. This is not to say that praise and adoration is not to be placed on Obama but rather, to remember all of the countless sacrifices figures like Douglass had to make to ensure that a present day America can exist. The intent of this powerful poem is to illuminate the difference between Douglass’s beliefs and the modern America that has become one of inclusivity and change. This is exemplified in the opening lines of the poem:

This is the longitude and latitude of the impossible; this is the epicenter of the unthinkable; this is the crossroads of the unimaginable: the tomb of Frederick Douglass, three days after the election (Mays 768).

Douglass’ life and accomplishments were just that; seemingly impossible, unthinkable, and unimaginable. His accomplishments were solely a pipe dream for those who were like him. The poem conclusion forms a religious perspective and Espada implores and pleads with the reader that the seemingly impossible feats of this life are not unreachable.This poem as a whole shows the transition of Fredrick Douglass’s life from a poor slave who was not allowed to learn, who overcame that and taught himself, and became the pinnacle of what it means to be an American. He was an American who was given the privileges and rights that are spoken of in the Declaration of Independence. In regards to the poem, the ontological mystery is the mystery itself of the change in the course of history. This work reveals itself as a sort of canticle saying, “I say a prayer, the first in years, that we bury the what we call the impossible, the unthinkable, the unimaginable, now and forever, Amen” (Mays 769). D.H. Dilbeck says, “Douglass’s America is not our America. A chasm of historical change separates us, much of it nearly unimaginable when Douglass died. And yet, we’re still heirs of the history Douglass faced and forged. The “malignant prejudice of race” lives on, a mockery of our common Creator and the likeness of the God we share” (Radical Faith of Frederick Douglass). The author prays that the country forgets those words and starts living the way they were meant to live, pursuing the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as an equal and free nation.

Works Cited

1. Dilbeck, D. H. “The Radical Faith of Frederick Douglass. (Cover Story).” Christianity Today, vol. 62, no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 46–50. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=127098390&site=ehost-live.
2. “The Face of His Race.” Civil War Times, vol. 58, no. 4, Aug. 2019, p. 10. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=136399029&site=ehost-live.
3. Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 12th ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2016.
4. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. 12th Media Services, 2019.

I personality think that human beings have a moral duty to treat themselves and other as end rather than means. Treating someone as end mean a lot to me because treating them as a value within their self. Treating some as an end makes them feel a human being which has value to life.

Deontology is one of the main ethical systems known and used today. The former suggests that the moral value of actions is determined by their consequences. In other words, an act that as a result maximizes benefits for the majority can be deemed ethical even though it harms certain individuals. At the same time, deontology proposes that an action is right only when it is performed consistently with ethical principles and codes regardless of whether its consequences are favorable or unfavorable. It is valid to say that Frederick Douglass’s perspective on the moral value of individuals and their duties is in line with the deontological rules of ethics. Frederick Douglass was convinced that every person inherently has dignity and can express it by behaving virtuously. It means that one has a moral responsibility to treat others not just a means for attaining certain goals, either economic or religious, but as ends in themselves. I tend to agree with Douglass’s ideas and, in the present paper, I will aim to demonstrate why they must be considered valid.

The present-day world provides a lot of examples of when individuals are treated as means and when duties are performed only as value . The number of such examples is especially large in the business and economic spheres. For instance, a corporation may strive to generate greater profits by reducing labor costs and increasing daily work hours. In this situation, the management does not view workers as individuals and human beings but merely as tools by utilizing which it is possible to gain more revenues. Clearly, such a treatment of workers is not ethical at all.

The profits that are generated through the use of employees as instruments maximize goods (wealth and happiness) only for a small group of people: managers, leaders, and other parties in the position of power. Besides, the well-being of workers is not considered in this situation. They may not only be deprived of a chance to access the economic benefits produced through their labor but also suffer serious inconveniences during the work process. Such a treatment of individuals cannot be considered ethical and just even from other perspective since it does not maximize goods for the majority. However, it was regarded as a norm for a significant period in the United States since law and accepted social norms sanctioned slavery. During the times when slavery was legal, the value of every person was more than ever determined not only by their social-economic status but by their racial background as well. African Americans and some other ethnic minority groups were deprived of basic human rights, including education. To respect the rights of those individuals and provide them with freedom was, in fact, against the law.

In the past, the idea that people of different races and ethnicities could have similar qualities and potentials was inconceivable for some. Nowadays, we know that every person can attain self-realization and benefit other people and society providing he or she is given a chance to thrive, develop skills, learn, and pursue various personal goals. It is possible to say that the respect towards those quality potentials and rights of individuals was what Douglass considered a virtuous behavior and one’s responsibility. To mistreat others and use them to attain personal or any other goals while being aware that everyone has the same natural powers and needs for self-realization, thus, means to act immorally.

I can find many examples in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass of how he treated others and himself as ends in themselves. A good one is when Douglass was hired as a teacher in a Sabbath school to teach other slaves English and instruct them on religious texts. Participation in a class like this was of significant importance for enslaved African Americans because they did not have any other chances for education and self-development. As Douglass noted in his book, he became a teacher to those individuals not because “it was popular to do so” or “reputable to be thus engaged” (82). He did it only because his students truly “wished to learn” and “their minds had been starved by their cruel masters” (Douglass 83). By teaching slaves, Douglass helped them to enhance their intellectual and moral capacities needed to realize their intrinsic powers. Overall, he provided them with the resources necessary to choose between moral and immoral decisions and behaviors independently.

Douglass live up to his his moral duty despite the consequences as potentially could be harmful and death. He lived up what he believed and fight for he stand for even tho it was risky ,could have resulted in death of himself and other slave. He think that was his call of duty. Fredrick grew up on the plantation seeing how the slaves were treated and believe slavery was wrong. He fight hard so end slavery because he want the slaves to treated as human and have right to their freedom. He even shows his religious duty where he justify slavery using the bible. Douglass remind me of solider who goes to war and what ever it takes he /she going to fight for their country because that their call of duty even to it comes with a lot risky consequences .

By helping others in the improvement of knowledge and skills, Douglass himself acted in accordance with his view of moral duty. It is possible to say that as one of a few literate African Americans he was aware of the social and political contexts in the country relatively better than illiterate slaves. For him, knowledge and literacy became the ways to freedom and essential means for the promotion of racial equality. Thus, he used teaching as a tool for empowerment and he utilized it for the “bettering in the condition of [his] race” (Douglass 83). It seems like the act teaching, in this case, served to maximize such nonmoral goods as knowledge and, eventually, happiness through liberation. Nevertheless, it is wrong to believe that Douglass treated his students merely as meas aimed to combat injustice in general. His efforts were primarily targeted at the maximization of their well-being. Douglass mentioned that he was happy to know that some of his students became literate and one became free as a result of his help . This note indicates that he mainly acted out of respect for individuals’ rights.

In conclusion, it is appropriate to note that a clear answer to the matters of moral values were very essential to human beings. Douglass was right to be willing to make sacrifices for moral duty because he was able to set the slaves free. By doing so was a lot of consequences he faced he got have been killed jail and also put the life off other slaves at risk, because what he doing was not legal doing that time of slavery. There are situations in which it would be justifiable to use certain individuals, put them at risk, and sacrifice their well-being to minimize harm to the majority or maximize benefits for the community. However, the cases of abuse during slavery do not belong to this category. There is no justification for mistreating people who have the same rights and needs as everyone else. It is immoral to deprive them of an opportunity to thrive with the only purpose of producing more benefits for another group of people with greater social and political power.

On the contrary, respect for the dignity of others, acknowledgment of the fact that they are essential valuable by their very nature is a form of virtuous behavior. Noteworthily, the example of Frederick Douglass demonstrates that the one who has certain privileges, such as the position of knowledge ability and higher education status, has an even greater responsibility to treat people with respect. By helping other individuals to improve their capacities and upholding their moral values, it is also possible to contribute to the development of common good. The virtuous behavior aimed to express own dignity and honor the dignity of fellow-citizens and allows creating a context and changing life conditions in a way that provides chances for more persons to realize their potentials and thrive.

Work cited

1. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: Written by Himself, Critical Edition. (Yale University Press, 2016).

Slavery in America has existed since the early colonization of the now eastern continental United States. Every part of the original colonies, in some way or form, contributed to this villainous trade. Whether by the physical exchanging of slaves or the forceful enslavement thereof; it makes no difference. The country was willing to continue the practice in the name of profit yet boast about men being created equal in the newfound republic. In due time, the stain of slavery will be put into question through the eventual war that would settle the matter permanently. Until then, Frederick Douglass’ account of his experiences within slavery only add more justification for its abolishment. His purpose was not only to detail the horrors he experienced, but also bring to light the hypocrisy between Christianity in the United States as well as the morals of those involved in the slave trade.

Firstly, the horrors of slavery must be mentioned. One of the reasons why slavery continued for centuries is because of certain laws regarding the status of slave children. The children of enslaved women follow the status of their mother which satisfies both pleasure for the enslaver as well as profit for future slaving endeavors. (Douglass, 16) The rationale behind this certain practice is quite disturbing. Not only are slave owners raping their slaves for personal satisfaction but are impregnating them in hopes to bring about a new, free slave. Free being a slave at no cost but of the pregnancy of the female victim. Depressingly, this new slave is also the child of their father; a free, white man who knowingly created this life for them to work for his personal gain. The father is both the parent as well as the master of his own slaves.

Next, the brutality of slavery. Slavery is all about control and slave owners would use fear and intimidation to keep their “property” in line. At times it would be whipping and lashing as a warning for slaves, but unfortunately slaveowners would go further by outright killing slaves to prove a point. These slaveowners have this justification by the early laws written in October 1669. This act, ACT 1, states,” If any slave resist his master (or other by his masters order correcting him) and by the extremity of the correction should chance to die, that his death shall not be accompted ffelony.” (“Virginia Slave Laws”, 2) With this law enacted, any and all slaveowners could end a life if they so desired, for any reason at all. Mr. Gore gave three warnings to Demby and with no added warning, shot Demby in the face, killing him. (Douglass, 29) These slaveowners had no remorse and were completely willing to get rid of a human life by killing them as if they were not human at all.

Equally important is the matter of education of slaves. Amazingly, Frederick Douglass managed to get by and learn how to read and write from his time in Baltimore without being caught. That is a blessing because if he were to get caught, he would “at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.” (Douglass, 37) For slaveowners, having educated and enlightened slaves would only lead to rebellion and disaster. By removing any form of education for the enslaved, slaveowners would not need to worry about slaves learning the reality of their situation and the dehumanizing aspects of slavery. With no education, slaves are stuck inside a bubble of the cruel world of slavery.

With all this in mind, Frederick Douglass was adamant on his stance on Christianity in the United States. In his experiences within slavery, Frederick found that the more religious a slaveowner was, the more egregious their character. As an example, Captain Auld in Mr. Douglass’ narrative was known to be heinous, but not as firm in his commands as others. (Douglass, 50) However, Captain Auld went to a Methodist meeting one day and was converted. (Douglass, 50) This only deepened his cruelty and used his version of Christianity as justification for his crimes. As evidence, Captain Auld would quote biblical texts such as “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes” while whipping a slave. (Douglass, 52) By using the Bible as justification, people like Mr. Auld find justice in their behavior. Additionally, this creates a skewed interpretation of what Christianity meant for slaves. For the most part, the majority may have accepted their situation as if it were indeed God’s will for them to exist the way that they are. Realistically, they knew no better because the were raised in a system for them not know the truths of the world. Luckily, Frederick Douglass witnessed and read about the inconsistencies between Christianity and Southern slavery while growing up and solidified his opinion on the matter. “Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference—so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked.” (Douglass, 93) What Mr. Douglass is eluding to is the actuality of the state of Christianity in America. All Americans were to believe that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” yet allow the wicked practice of enslavement to continue within the nation. As Frederick Douglass put it, “They strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” (Douglass, 96) The hypocrisy and inaction of the American people would only increase tensions between those who slave and those that do not.

In conjunction with what has been said, both the North and the South had very different outlooks on matters of social reforms in the antebellum. These differing viewpoints only highlight the further hypocrisy in the South. The North were largely incredibly proactive in the movements for social reform. Some include temperance, women’s suffrage, and the one still in its infancy, abolition. Abolition may not have had the largest following of supporters in the North early on, but the fact that Northerners were considering pushing for this movement with the support of a man, Frederick Douglass, only clearly shows that the North was aware of it’s societal problems and were willing to correct them. This would put pressure on the South to reconstruct their views on the institution of slavery. Sadly, the South would try to spin the narrative to show how “positive” the practice of slavery is for not only the South, but for the rest of the nation. The peoples of western Europe and those of the North would starve form the lack of cheaper products produced by slavery. (Fitzhugh, “Blessings of Slavery”, 358) Mr. Fitzhugh argues that if slavery would to be removed, the economies of the US and Europe would struggle with inflated prices from the lack of cheaper alternatives from slavery. Not surprisingly, religion is also used by southern slaveowners to defend their stance. “Human and divine authority do seem in the general to concur, in establishing the expediency of having masters and slaves of different races.” (Fitzhugh, “Blessings of Slavery”, 357) With this said, Southerners can harness the Bible as a sense of power to continue the practice. Plus, this evidence shows concrete proof that slavers are using racial supremacy language to add to their argument. In short, the South were resolute on their stance and were willing to defend their way of life by any means possible.

The debate over slavery is a long and bloody one. For centuries the original colonies utilized slavery as a way of life to make an income without any regards to those who worked tirelessly their whole lives. Overtime, the consciousness of the nation would put the practice of slavery into question and recognize the hypocrisy between it and the founding principles of the United States. With the help of Frederick Douglass, the nation became aware and the people of the United States of America would no longer accept the problem at their doorstep. The nation would fight to ensure that all of mankind can experience what it means to truly be an American. One that is free and equal where all can take advantage of the American dream that our forefathers fought to obtain.

Fredrick Douglass depicts his own style of writing in his memoir, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Douglass, one of the most famous American slaves, has a writing style that is more old-fashioned, intimate, and direct. He belives that slavery should be should be abolished and he illustrates to the reader by telling his story. He shares how he tolerated being a slave and working for several slaveholders. Also how he overcame slavery and how he was able to become his “own master.” By clearly establishing his credibility and connecting with his audience, Douglass uses numerous rhetorical devices to argue the atrocity that slaves experienced; he uses ethos, parallelism, and tone.

Frederick Douglass uses parallelism when saying “I was not allowed to be present during her illness, at her death, or burial”(Douglass 49). This is one way that Douglass shows why slavery should be abolished; mothers could not care for their own children. Children were also not allowed to attend their mother’s burial and show respect. No mother wanted to give up their child, but they were forcefully separated. Douglass had no knowledge of where and when his mother was buried. Another way Douglass uses parallelism is when he says, “No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose” (51). This explains how their master had no heart or empathy for what he was destroying or who he was harming. He may have owned them, but did not care about them, he could do what he pleased, and there was no law prohibiting that. To imagine how his aunt felt is unbearable, it is sad to think about the unnecessary misery many slaves went through. No person regardless of skin color should ever go through what slaves went through.

In Chapter 5, he uses ethos when he says “in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me…” (75). Douglass is expressing to us that he believes that he will be free one day, he will be the one to tell his own story. It is a fact that not every slave was able to be free, many slaves died as slaves. Douglass was apart of the group of free slaves that were able to recollect the experiences of what they went through. Another way he used ethos is when he states “The more I read, the more I was lead to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery”(84). Douglass experienced slavery first hand during his childhood, and remembered his old desire for knowledge and education in his youth; he valued education and knowledge as power. He is letting the reader know that there will always be a part in you that knows where you came from and what you dreamed your life would be. He knew that he was not meant to be a slave forever, even though some people died a slave they were free once they died. Douglass believed that slaves should have the right to learn. He knew that there were white, educated people who could teach him how to read, and also believed he would meet those people, and so he did. When he use to work for Mr. Auld, Mrs. Auld taught him the alphabet and how to read, but that did not last long once Mr. Auld found out. Douglass took advantage of the time he had, and shared it with other slaves. He felt that with all the hard work they did, learning how to read should be their reward.

Throughout the narrative, Frederick Douglass has several different tones. At some points he is reserved; Other times, he’s angry, or emotional. In many parts, when he is sharing the different beatings him or another slave received, his tone is somber. Douglass did not have many whippings but he witnessed and heard of many of them. The way he explained the whipping was reserved but reading it may have disturbed the audience. He explains it in a way the reader can visualize it (imagery). Douglass’s angry tone begins to surface when he fights Mr. Covey in Chapter 10. Douglass was not going to put up with how Mr. Covey was handling him. His tone was kind of proud and angry because he got into several fights but was rarely whipped. Douglass was more furious that he still had to work for Mr. Covey after their confrontation. Also in Chapter 10 his tone became emotional when he was at Chesapeake Bay. “You are loosed from your moorings, and are free; I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before the bloody whip! You are freedom’s swifted-winged angels, that fly round the world; I am confined in bands of iron! O that I were free! O, that I were on one of your gallant decks, and under your protecting wing! Alas! Betwixt me and you the turbid waters roll. Go on, go on. O that I could also go! Could O but swim! If I could fly! O, why was I born a man, of whom to make a brute! The glad ship is gone; she hides in the dim distance. I am let in the hottest hell of unending slavery. O God, save me! God deliver me! Let me be free! Is there any God? Why am I a slave? I will run away. I will not stand it…”(106-107). Douglass started to lose faith and was making a plan to run away. At this point he did not care if he lived or died, he just did not want to be a slave anymore. But he pushed through and eventually at the end of the story he was a free slave.

In conclusion, Frederick Douglass, an American slave, told the story of his life and how he became a free slave. By using parallelism, ethos, and tone he showed why slavery should be abolished. In using these rhetorical devices, Frederick Douglass makes an effective argument against slavery. His tone was the most effective in emphasizing the cruelness of slavery. Douglass and many other people are the reason black people are free today.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass details the oppression Fredrick Douglass went through before his escape to freedom. In his narratives, Douglass offers the readers with fast hand information of the pain, brutality, and humiliation of the slaves. He points out the cruelty of this institution on both the perpetrator, and the victims. As a slave, Fredrick Douglass witnessed the brutalization of the blacks whose only crime was to be born of the wrong color. He narrates of the pain, suffering the slaves went through, and how he fought for his freedom through attaining education.

When writing this Frederick Douglass showed himself as someone with a lot of sense and made himself seem very rational when presenting points across and ideas, through the entire book you were able to tell that he was the most logical person in the book always thinking rationally before saying anything. Many times over in the book Douglass puts both perspectives into context when talking about the topic of slavery he was playing devil’s advocate for something he didn’t believe in in order to understand the other persons perspective, but he also doesn’t make any excuses for the other side he made plenty of efforts to make realistic and critical points.

Throughout the book he displays more humanity that the reader was able to see that this was a human rights crime. In this book Douglass also presents an idea where he basically sometimes can be a main character and also has the ability to sideline himself both at the same time. Fredrick Douglass was also able to dissociate himself from emotions in the book Douglass says this “The ties that ordinarily bind children to their homes were all suspended in my case. I found no severe trial in my departure. My home was charmless; it was not home to me; on parting from it, I could not feel that I was leaving anything which I could have enjoyed by staying. My mother was dead, my grandmother lived far off, so that I seldom saw her. I had two sisters and one brother, that lived in the same house with me; but the early separation of us from our mother had well-nigh blotted the fact of our relationship from our memories. I looked for home elsewhere and was confident of finding none which I should relish less than the one which I was leaving. If, however, I found in my new home hardship, hunger, whipping, and nakedness, I had the consolation that I should not have escaped any one of them by staying. (5.6)”

Douglass has tried to escape and he, but he was betrayed by a fellow slave who sold him out so before he conceived his freedom, he had to wait about two more years before he could actually become free. When he was caught trying to escape Douglass’s master sent him to Baltimore which would benefit him because he would use the skills learned that to him develop his plan to escape. On September 3, 1838 Frederick Douglass would finally get his oppournity to be able to escape, Douglass disguised himself as a free black sailor and this was a skill that he developed by working in the waterfront, from priors years when his master sent him to Baltimore waterfront shipyards, he also had a protection pass which something saliors used to show that would be papers implying and state he is a free man and is free to be a sailor. When Douglass got on the train he used his wit and intelligence to show the train conductor that he he was a free man and the paper were to him.

Until the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, slavery had remained a vital facet of American society and a main function of the country’s prosperity. The large cash crop production and slave ownership of the south created a system of slavery that would cease to be abolished until after the country errupted into civil war in 1861. Yet, before the abolition of slavery, very few slaves were lucky enough to escape their enslavers and reach the freedom which awaited them in northern states. In his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass outlines his struggles as a captive of slavery and his henceforth journey towards freedom. Douglass mentions the various strategies slave owners use to keep their slaves in a subordinate position. The white, slaveholders of the South use various methods of dehumanization and manipulation to make their slaves ignorant to their wretched state of enslavement. In order to become weary of his deplorable enslaved state, Frederick Douglass seeks education and knowledge which empowers him to gain his freedom.

Throughout his service of slavery, Douglass observes how he and his companions are manipulated by their masters in order to keep them ignorant to their state of service. During the holiday of Christmas, white slave masters feed their slaves excess alcohol in order to make them appear unworthy, and ignorant, of the relatively little freedom that is lent to them during the holiday. Douglass explains that the slave holders’ goal is “to disgust their slaves with freedom, by plunging them into the lowest depths of dissipation” (Douglass 45). They divise “various plans to make [the slaves] drunk,” and by getting them as drunk as possible, the whites give slaves a misrepresentation of the freedom in which they believe they are incapable of achieving (Douglass 45). This altered perception of freedom makes a slave believe he is unworthy of having freedom and therefore, after the holidays, they stagger “up from the filth of wallowing – feeling, upon the whole, rather glad to go, from what our master had deceived us into a belief was freedom, back to the arms of slavery” (Douglass 45). White slaveholders make their slaves ignorant to the idea of freedom as to deceive them into thinking that it in unachievable because a slave simply cannot handle the power of freedom. Because of these abuses of freedoms that the slave owners manipulate unto their slaves during the holiday season, it leads them to think that it is more worthy to remain a slave than to seek this unachievable freedom.

In his experience as an enslaved African American, the various slave owners that Douglass comes in contact with keep their slaves ignorant to basic knowledge such as their age, birth parents, or even family origin. According to Douglass, “it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (Douglass 1). By doing this, slave owners rob their slaves of a natural sense of identity which turns them into single minded humans, unable to think of themselves as anything but a slave to a white man. When Douglass goes to work for a man by the name of Mr. Hugh Auld in the city of Baltimore, he is fortunate to receive instruction from Mr. Auld’s wife who begins to teach Douglass the alphabet and small word building. However, upon finding out about this tutoring, Master Auld immediately prohibits any further education, explaining that it is “unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. To use his own words, further, he said, ‘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’” (Douglass 20). Mr. Auld points out that slaves are intended to do one thing ﹣to do as they are told. By teaching them anything else, it will deem them inept for their original purpose. Slave holders intend to keep their slaves in this state of ignorance as to have them perform their tasks without distraction or second thought. If a slave learns to read or write, it will give him the power to think for himself and this will turn him into an ineffective worker. Douglass also mentions that “to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason” (Douglass 58). Slavery is not the choice of a slave, and therefore it is most effective to completely eliminate the thoughts of a slave so all they can comprehend is the life of slavery. A thoughtless slave will not be able to question the notion of slavery because they lack the power of reason and thoughtfulness to do so.

From Douglass’s early exposure to education and literature, it allows him to use the power of knowledge to articlulate his endowment to slavery and discover the key to his freedom. Douglass understands that this power of knowledge separates him from his ignorant slave peers because it can propel him towards freedom. When Douglas is prevented from learning any more English by Mr. Auld, he mentions, “From that moment I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass 20). Slave owners such as Mr. Auld do not allow their slaves to receive any education as it will let slaves think for themselves and and thus reverse their ignorance. By reversing this ignorance, slaves can begin to comprehend the inhumanities of slavery and understand themselves as more than just a slave. The little education that Douglass recieves allows him to percieve the injustices of slavery and to begin to use his knowledge as a tool of escape from his enslavement. However, this newly received knowledge leads Douglass to become hopeless at first. Upon reading a book called “The Columbian Orator,” Douglass explains: “the more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy” (Douglass 24). Knowledge allows Douglass to understand the injustices of slavery, but it does not immediatly offer a solution. Douglass’s knowledge does not automatically set him free because there is still a grave risk associated with escaping towards the north. Instead, knowledge gives Douglass an advantage and the proper guidance towards his freedom. By receiving guidance and self-educating himself, Douglass is able to break his state of ignorance in order to utilize his knowledge as a pathway towards freedom.

Because of the many manipulations and dehumanizations that slave owners place upon their slaves, their slaves remain ignorant to their state of endowment. Slaveholders do this because it creates the most efficiency out of a slave. By being unknowledgeable, these ignorant slaves are not able to think for themselves and can only perceive their life as that of a slave. An ignorant slave cannot question the notion of slavery because they lack the knowledge to be able to do so. Douglass’s enlightenment through education highlights the importance of education in creating a gateway towards freedom. By becoming educated, subordinate people can use their knowledge to overthrow a hierarchy and find their freedom. In the 21st century, education is an aspect of society that is often taken for granted. The utilization of knowledge by Frederick Douglass shows the importance of knowledge as a key to freedom and as a tool to further advance the human race.

Freed slaves were quite frank about all the brutality of oppression in the eighteenth-century — those times from the beginning of the Union to the Civil War. However, their ability to act out was determined on whether they resided in the North or the South. Since their lives were restricted in the colonial era by numerous oppressive laws. Liberated Black Americans were actively involved in American society, especially in the north. Throughout the antebellum era until the 1812 war, free Black Americans such as Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass achieved global reputation by reporting about the hypocrisy of slavery.

Sojourner Truth’s sermon in Akron in 1851, popularly called ‘Ain’t I a Woman,’ continues to stand as a milestone in the constant battle for the equality of racial groups and women. Truth spoke before an assembly for woman’s rights, making the case about the social and intellectual capability of women, as well as biblical arguments in favor of equal rights. She tactfully exclaims that no one is doing any kind of decency and respect for her, and she reinforces this point by declaring, “Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me the best place!”. 1 She points out all the strong presence of a fierce hypocrisy by trying to equate this ideal situation of how a man says a woman should be treated. In reality that she has never experienced any of this decency, stimulating an emotional animosity in the audience. Through illustrating the presence of this irony in her own life, she prompts her audience to consider possible atrocities that they would like to change in their very own lives. Furthermore, she concludes her speech with a clever strategy to encourage her listeners to act against this disparity and to overcome the evils they face by referring to Eve’s impact on society. Truth claims, “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!”. 2 First by referring to the influence of Eve, the world’s first woman’s, Truth draws cleverly in each potential member of her audience so that they can then contribute physically and emotionally to her plan to fight injustice. She suggests that if all of these women work together somehow, there’s no logical reason they shouldn’t aim to achieve what they’re all fighting for: equality for women. Truth effectively gives the clear message on the hypocrisy, unlawful nature, and moral inconsistency of racial and gender discrimination using numerous rhetorical approaches to indulge her audience.

On July 5, 1852, at an Independence Day remembrance, Frederick Douglass gave an opening speech and asked, ‘What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?’ Douglass was a powerful public speaker, often traveling six months a year to give emancipation speeches. His statement was made at a gathering celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. It was a powerful speech in which Douglass proclaimed, ‘This Fourth of July is yours, not mine, you may rejoice, I must mourn’.3 The use of the phrases ‘your’ and ‘you’ distinctly highlights the gap between Douglass and his listeners and implies to his listeners that he does not agree with their views or attitudes towards

the Fourth of July. In his speech, Douglass credited the Founding Fathers of America, for their commitment to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’, “The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men… The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration”. 4 Douglass declares the founders of the nation are honorable men for their ideals of democracy. In doing so he provides awareness of the hypocrisy of their ideals with the presence of slavery on American soil. Douglass concludes his speech, “I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery… the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope”. 5 Douglass tells his audience he feels no “despair” because he does not want his listeners to leave feeling depressed, because of his dark and blistering denunciation of the nation. He looks at the previous years and the values conveyed in the Declaration of Independence. For Douglass, if the country can measure up to other countries where slavery is abolished, it will make United States a place of opportunity and hope for the oppressed, despite its shortcomings. He refers to the future in which he predicts that economic and technological advancements will spread knowledge, prosperity, and substantial progress across the world. Douglass delivers the powerful message on the nation’s corruption, unconstitutional racism, and future, using various powerful themes to engage his audience.

Author Henry Miller, once wrote, “ The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts-an immense difference”. 6 He most likely didn’t have Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas in mind but, their endless courage and determination to abolish slavery and fight for equality for women contributed to a monumental difference on America today. Sojourner Truth was the only voice on behalf of women numerous times, yet it hasn’t discouraged her from speaking. Truth had been a woman of few words but she was impactful when she spoke her truth. Her words may have been simple and her speeches were concise, but she seemed to have an exceptional insight. Frederick Douglass’s influence extends much further than his symbolic role as one of America’s most notorious former slaves, although it proved a remarkable achievement in his lifetime to shift from bondage to freedom. He remains popular to both history and current American culture as he moved further than enjoying freedom to devote his life to the progression of America. His desire to make the nation a truly fair place led him to fight for the abolishment of slavery and advocate for African Americans and women in social justice issues and civil rights issues.

Bibliography

1. Douglass, Frederick. “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” Owl Eyes. Accessed November 27, 2019. https://www.owleyes.org/text/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july.
2. “Henry Miller Quotes.” BrainyQuote. Xplore. Accessed November 26, 2019. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/henry_miller_143530.
3. Lab, Digital Scholarship. “The History Engine.” History Engine: Tools for Collaborative Education and Research | Episodes. Accessed November 27, 2019. https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/4959.
4. Lewis, Jone Johnson. “Women’s History: Ain’t I A Woman, Sojourner Truth.” http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/bl_sojourner_truth_woman.htm.
5. Truth, Sojourner, and Halsall, Paul. “Modern History Sourcebook: Sojourner Truth: ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’, December 1851.” Internet History Sourcebooks. Fordham University, August 1997. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp.
6. Zirin, Dave. “’What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’ by Frederick Douglass.” The Nation, July 4, 2018. https://www.thenation.com/article/what-slave-fourth-july-frederick-douglass/.
7. Truth, Sojourner, and Paul Halsall. “Modern History Sourcebook: Sojourner Truth: ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’, December 1851.” Internet History Sourcebooks. Fordham University, August 1997. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp.

Douglass is the one who ended the slavery in united states of America and Abraham Lincoln had a big role in slavery because he helped them free slavery and he was the 16th president of united states he maintained the union during the civil war and speaking on Nation they probably achieved their goal because the one of the most important debate on slavery was done so there is no more slavery in America and constitution helped them to be free by law or government .

Douglass was born as a slave because his mother was a slave but he lived with his grand mother . he knew about slavery by reading a book called ‘ Columbian Orators ‘ which has a big role on his life . Lincoln was born in a poor family and he was self educated but federick douglass didn’t had a proper schooling and Lincoln had freedom which douglass didn’t had so it was harder for douglass to come front and he had a very hard time to gain the freedom as a black American . they have a common which they lived in same kind of society like violence around them .

They have helped each other a lot to be success in freeing slavery they have lincoln used his powers as commander in chief of the armed forces to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which means freeing all slaves in the rebel states of the confederacy. douglass was a abolitionist. douglass and Lincoln have became inspiration for many people for after the end of slavery . they were probably the most famous authors and Lincoln most famous president in 1800s and lincoln once said that touched my heart “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”. This what he did with douglass because he supported for free slavering he believed him and then he freed them .

Douglass first met him after Lincoln gradually moved toward a policy of emancipation. They both finally met at the White House on Aug. 10 , 1863, and although Douglass continued to have his disagreements with Lincoln over his policies toward blacks, the men developed a friendship based on mutual respect.

Douglass wanted African americans or the black America to get paid same as the white americans in army as soldiers so Lincoln said every black soldier will get their fair wage as the white soldiers . Plantations in the South used sharecroppers instead of Black slaves to do the work on the plantations so that clearly means douglass goal was achieved .

Lincoln used his war power act to free slaves and provide military service to blacks and douglass he used his news papers to inspire them ( white people ) so they should respect black peoples rights . they should be counted equally as white peoples . their goal to ending slavery and how they ended ? they both oppesed slavery , they both used the language in convincing manner or persuasively and they both influenced many people to not follow the slavery and they did in different way they saved the union and uphold the constitution while opposing slavery so this means they maintained everything while freeing slavery .

Lincoln and Douglass were writers also they were successful as authors to they have written many books Douglass as a best seller book called narrative of the life of Douglass an American slave this books and Lincoln don’t wrote books but he was good writer and books talks about the american slavery and how Frederick Douglass and Lincoln ended the slavery legally. After slavery ended African American were also fought in the civil war as soldiers Douglass convinced Lincoln that slaves should serve in the union forces and that abolition of slavery should be the goal of this war after end of slavery Frederick Douglass became consultant of president Lincoln.

Conclusion

The nation achieved the goal by there desire of lincoln and douglass wanted because there is no more slavery in united states of America and they have equal participation in the society so constitution is the major support of ending the slavery. Douglass as a slave , as a self taught , and from poor family inspired America and Lincoln from poor background became the president of united states of America he was one of the president without a college degree and support black people and slaves .

Work Citied

1. David W. Blight, Frederick Douglass’ Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee (Louisiana State University Press, 1999
2. William S. McFeely, Frederick Douglass, p. 2.
3. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass David Blight-William McFeely-James Oakes – http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/abraham-lincolns-contemporaries/abraham-lincoln-and-frederick-douglass/

Nineteenth century American literature was marked by the closeness of independence of America from Britain. It was a time of individualism and self-interest. Literature was mainly focused on The American Frontier, as a new country was born it was time to describe their landscapes, geography and natural history, Transcendentalism, after narrating the geographical landscapes it was the time to explain the American psyche, Slave Narratives, which will make a transition from the literature that talks about the American dream to the reality, and The Civil World, which would relate the facts and stories that surround American civil war. This essay will be focused on slave narrative and freedom.

“Freedom” a simple word which may have a lot of different meanings depending on the person who read it and in the age they are reading it; through history people’s freedom have radically changed, centuries ago freedom was only available for a few people whereas today almost everyone in western society is free. But are we really free? Can we do whatever we want or do we have laws that restrict or freedom? Can we buy whatever we want or do we need an amount of money to do certain things as travel around the world or have a fancy house? For this reason, “freedom” has different meanings.

The reach of freedom is the main topic of “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” (1845) a memoir written by Frederick Douglass in which he explains his early life as an slave and his way to freedom and how he achieved; however, due to slavery being still legal when he published the novels, he released two more autobiographies “My Bondage and My Freedom” (1855) and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass” (1881), latest one being the most detailed about how he escaped from slavery and became a free man. This essay will focus on Douglass’ journey and self-construction to freedom and what he considered as freedom.

Becoming a free man for a slave was not an easy task, although there were free black people –called “Free Black” or “Free negro” – children from free colored women, mulattos, mixed-races, freed slaves or those who escaped- those were the minority of the population. Only in the middle of the eighteen century when political and social movements against slavery merged and some states established as illegal slavery, black people started to gain rights, some of them risking their own life moving to states where it was illegal. The main reason why it was so hard for black people to become free was their lack of knowledge and the force and threat they were submitted.

When it comes to the lack of knowledge, they were omitted even their birth day and although this may not seem as harder as whipping slaves it was the way to start controlling them: prohibiting them any kind of knowledge, Douglass specifies this: “I have no accurate knowledge of my age […] a want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood […] I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege [of white children]” (Douglass, 1845:1). However, inhibiting them to not know their birthday it was not the strongest things masters would do in order to manipulate them; they were taken out of their mothers just months before they were born and some of them did not even know their father: “I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life; and each of these times was very short in duration, ad at night” (Douglass, 1845:20).

Ignorance was not the only way slave owners had to control slaves; they had to use force as well. People not knowing how to read, write, where they came from, people who were forced to be raised without feelings and relatives, they only knew if they did not do what they told them, they will be whipped, they had nothing to do but obey. The use of force was a way not only of punishment but a warning for the rest of the slaves letting them know their fate if they disobeyed. Douglass explains how he was separated from his family and how due to that he would not feel any pain of one of them died: “I had two sisters and one brother, that lived in the same house with me, but the early separation of us from our mother had will night blotted the fact of our relation from our memory “(Douglass, 1845:25).

But how could a slave become free if they were worth less than an animal? In slavery times a slave life was worthless, they could be killed and there would not be a trial about them. In The Narrative of the Life of an American Slave, Douglass tells the story of how Mr. Gore –a slave overseer- decided to kill a slave because as an self-defence reflection he ran and hided on a River, the overseer made him three calls and at the third one he shot, no regret, in fact, he was cool with his action and the action was accepted by the slave owner. Moreover, they would be sold the same way an animal was: “There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children” (Douglass,1845:39) and how, after his old master died and had no one left to leave his properties, he was sent to be value in the same way a piece of furniture.

Slave’s life could vary depending on the zone they were living or on their slave masters behaviour. Slaves were often led or exchanged to other owners so on their life span the could live with more than an owner and revised by more than one overseer; some of the slaves could be “lucky” and have enough food and be treated “right”, while others suffered from starving and were used by their master to blow off steam. Douglass got “lucky” and when he was moved to Baltimore his mistress was “a woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings”, as Frederick was her first slave and before she got married she gained her life by herself with her own company, she did not treat Frederick as other slave owners did, in fact, he started to touch him how to read and spall words, however, one day he Mr. Auld got her teaching him and forbid her to keep doing it, it was that day when Douglass understood that learning was his way to freedom and started to pursue his dream to become free. He described the moment he knew how to be free as “I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty- to wit, the white ma’s power to enslave the black man […] I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass, 1845:29).

There was also a difference between men and women; they were not treated the same way, although Douglass does not talk a lot about women in his book, thanks to other narratives such as Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) by Harriet Ann Jacobs we know women suffered even more. They were raped by their owners, got pregnant from other men rather than their husband so their owners would have more slaves besides the work men did as well. The fact that Douglass only refers to manhood can be a bit contradictory when he is writing about freedom and having the same privileges men and women.

Douglass way to freedom was not what he expected, frustration took over him as his masters prohibited any kind of learning but he refused to stop learning, refused to stop his path to freedom; kids from the town helped him until he learnt to read but he is trip to freedom was not successful, he somehow regretted to have that knowledge as still he would be “an slave for life”. After being back with Mr. Covey something unexpected happened with made Douglass stronger, one day Covey was about hit him and he decided to fight back, Covey lost the fight and was more careful with Frederick since then; Douglass could have been punished by law but then the whole town would know a slave had hit him and he would lose all his good reputation. A few months later, Douglass escaped to New York where slavery was illegal, but however, he did not find freedom; he saw racism, people not willing to help –more likely the opposite- he knew he would still a lot to fight, but it was the beginning of his emancipation.

When it comes to the way Frederick Douglass wrote the narrative, he wants the reader to feel what he has been through, his style is straightforward. Descriptions of how he was feeling and the things he saw as descriptive as possible to make the person reading the book imagine how it happened. The main reason behind this is that most of slavery narratives were written before slavery came to an end in all states and they contributed to the fight against slavery, spreading how slavery work and how human being were being treated as animals. Between 1845 and 1860, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” got to sell 30,000 copies.

Abstract

This research is to explain the myth of anti-slavery is reflected in Frederick Douglass’s narrative “The life and time of Frederick Douglass”. Since there are many myths in America, yet the researcher only focuses on American myth of anti-slavery. The old way of Americans’ thinking thatthe black people is in lower class than white people made them become slave and their individual freedom is restricted. Along with the evolving issue of anti-slavery, there are many ways to talk about it. One way to discuss the issue is through medium of autobiography. Frederick Douglass is not just a common narrative, but it was influential narrative. From the narrative the reader could have imaged of the slavery system in America at that time. From it’s also seen how Douglass struggle for his individual freedom, from an educated slave to educated and free people.

INTRODUCTION

Myth is a particular process whereby historically determined circumstances were presented as somehow ‘natural’, and that it allowed for the uncovering of ‘the ideological abuse’ hidden ’in the display of what goes without saying’ (Barthes, 1999:11). Myth is a value, truth is no guarantee for it; nothing prevents it from being a perpetual alibi: it is enough that its signifier has two sides for it always to have an ‘elsewhere’ at its disposal (Barthes, 1999:123). Myth of anti-slavery is one ofseveral myths which entrenched in Americans social life for many decades. The old way of Americans’ thinking that the black people is in lower class than white people made them become slave and their individual freedom is restricted. Along with the evolving issue of anti-slavery, there are many ways to talk about it. One way to discuss the issue is through medium of autobiography.

“The life and time of Frederick Douglass” is autobiography wrote by Frederick Douglass, the black slave, that tell about the life of the slaves in America. Then the myth of anti-slavery is chosen in order to have a wider knowledge about the myth reflected in the autobiography. Although there are many issues, the researcher takes this subject (the myth of anti-slavery) since the portion of issue around the myth is more prominent than others. Moreover this narrative gives strong satires to Americans culture elevating the myth of anti-slavery which most Americans embrace. The curiosity about how the myth anti-slavery reflected in Frederick Douglass’s narrative “The life and time of Frederick Douglass” make it interesting to analyze.

To explain the myth of anti-slavery is reflected in Frederick Douglass’s narrative “The life and time of Frederick Douglass”. Since there are many myths in America, yet the researcher only focuses on American myth of anti-slavery to avoid deviation with the research question. As the primary source of data the researcher takes the autobiography of Douglass (the researcher takes several sentences, quotations, dialogues, and the other elements).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

A. Biographical sketch of the author

Frederick Douglas is one of the abolitionist or anti-slavery figure. He was born 1817 or 1818. Like many slaves, he is unsure of his exact date of birth. He was born as Frederick Bailey circa in Maryland. Douglass served as a slave on farms on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and in Baltimore. Especially in Baltimore, Douglas enjoyed relatively more freedom than slaves usually did in the South. In the city, Douglass first learned how to read and began making contacts with educated free blacks.

At the age of about twenty Douglass escaped to New York. Here he meets with and married Anna Murray, a free black woman from Baltimore. They lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Frederick changed his last name from Bailey to Douglass. Douglass worked for the next three years as a laborer and continued his self education. Douglass started his own abolitionist newspaper in 1847 in Rochester, New York, under the name North Star. He also found time to publish the third volume of his autobiography, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, in 1881 (the second volume, My Bondage and My Freedom, was published in 1855). Douglass died of a heart attack in 1895. .His Narrative emerged in a popular tradition of slave narratives and slavery fictions. He writes the bad effects of slavery system not just for the salve but also to the slave owner. Douglass’s work is read today as one of the finest examples of the slave-narrative genre. Douglass narrative styles and forms from the spiritual conversion narrative, the sentimental novel, oratorical rhetoric, and heroic fiction. Finally, in its somewhat unique depiction of slavery as an assault on selfhood and in its attention to the tensions of becoming an individual, Douglass’s Narrative can be read as a contribution to the literary tradition of American Romantic individualism.

A. Historical and social background

The first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. Since that the need of slave become higher and higher equal with the grown of the plantation in America. Slave was used because they were cheaper and easy to be controlled. To keep them in control, the slave owner did not give them an education; they break all individual freedom of the slave. Slave is just a pet for their master.

In the early 1840s, the abolitionist, or anti-slavery, movement was gaining momentum, especially in the far Northeast. Many people believe that the slavery system is not humanly it must be erased; slaves are people so they also have their human right. When the Civil War happened in 1861, the abolitionist campaigned to allow black men to fight for the Union. Then, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on December 31, 1862, and Congress authorized the enlistment of black men in 1863, though they were paid only half what white soldiers made. The Union won the Civil War on April 9, 1865.

The old way American’s thinking that the white is in higher class than the black, made them think about superiority toward black people, as subdue class they must serve them. The slavery system not just bring suffered for the black but also bring the bad effect to the white. They are become cruel people and antipathy to the humanity. Even people who have many slaves will be called as noble people, but many slave-owning men have trapped to adultery and rape, have children with their female slaves.

Important part of narrative reflected the Black people individual freedom

In this narrative, Frederick Douglass tried to give image of slavery system that happen in America during his life time. Some sentences used as the key to understand the aim and point of view of Frederick Douglass about slavery and the myth of freedom toward black people. Genealogical trees did not flourish among slave. A person of same consequence in civilized society, sometimes designed as father, was literally unknown to salve law and slave practice. I never met with a slave in that part of the country who could tell me with any certainty how old he was. Few at that time knew anything of the months of the years or of the days of the month. They measures he ages of their children by spring time, winter time, harvest time, planting time, and the like. Master allowed no questions to be put to them by salves concerning their ages. (Page 25)

In this passage, which appears in Chapter I of the Narrative, Douglass explains that his master and other slave master would keep the birth as a secret to keep them unknown about their family tree. Their family is created by the master. Douglass demonstrating how a slave is “made,” so beginning at birth. He explains the means by which slave owners distort social bonds and the natural processes of life in order to turn men into slaves. Almost slaves didn’t know their age, when they born, from what family. What they know are that they were owned by their master. All of their life is to serve the master. The slaveholder erased their sense of personal history. Nineteenth-century readers placed great value on the family structure, viewing families as a haven of virtue. The destruction of family structure would have saddened readers and appeared to be a signal of the larger moral illnesses of the culture. Like many nineteenth-century authors, Douglass shows how social injustice can be expressed through the breakdown of a family structure. Douglass use “sometime” in chase to show that “father” for the slaves is totally different with the concept of “father” as the head of the family. Father for them is someone that they didn’t know, and an absurd person, it could be the older slaves or maybe the slaveholder itself.

I was with the children there, left to the tender mercies of Aunt Katy, a slave women……She was a woman who never allowed herself to act greatly within the limit of delegated power, no matter how broad that authority might be. Ambitious old master’s favor, ill-tempered and cruel by nature, she found in her present position an ample field for the exercise of her ill- omened qualities. (Page 33)

This passage is part of Douglass’s long discussion at the beginning of Chapter III. From here Douglass give image about how cruel the slavery system for the black people. Even between the slaves itself, the classes and size are exist. To get attention from their master, they subjected the weak, not just serve the master, but also to serve them. This behavior not just destroyed personal freedom but also build the corrupt mentality. They were tech to become lick boots, all is about self, no intention with the other as long as profitable. Cruelty is not longer as immoral behavior but it’s seem become naturally. No one will pay attention what the master done to their slaves. The women who should have good intention, act as a mother to their child, in this phrase changed to the cool blood women, has no pity and very ambitious. This pattern of women that created by Douglass is to attract the women reader to gain their emotional feeling.

The slave holder, as well as the slaves, was the victim of the slave system. Under the whole heavens tierce could be no relation more unfavorable to the development of honorable character than that sustained by the slaveholder to the slave. Reason is imprisoned here, and passions run wild….but the pleasant moods of a slaveholder are transient and fitful. They neither come often nor remain long. The temper of the old man was subject to special trial; but since these trials were never borne patiently, they added little to his natural stock of patience….he made the impression upon me of being unhappy man. Even to my child’s eye he wore a trouble and at times a haggard aspect. (Page 44)

In the narrative, Douglass shows slaveholding to be damaging not only to the slaves themselves, but to slave owners as well. The corrupt and irresponsible power that slaves owner enjoy over their slaves has a detrimental effect on the slave owners’ own moral health. Slave owner value slave only to that they can perform productive labor, they threat slaves like livestock or mere animals. Douglass showing the fact that the slave owners treat them as property. Even the slave owner has power among their slave and has them to serve their daily life but, seem that there were become unhappy people. They must maintenance a lot of people, and they must always look powerful in front of their slaves, this made them could not control their emotion and more likely to be cruel.

Why am I a slave? Why are some people slaves and other masters? These were perplexingquestions and very troublesome to my childhood. I was told by someone very early that “God up in the sky” had made all things, and had made black people to be slaves and white people to be masters. I was told too that God was good, and that He knew what was best for everybody. (Page 55)

In this passage, Douglass told clearly how about the concept of higher class and lower class existing in religion. Since childhood he was learned that black people are chosen to be slaves for the white people. This propaganda is to keep the black people believe that if they want to be a good people as their God want, they must be a slave. Even there were questions about their fate, but since it is came from God so they must obey it and accept that. The slave owners’ show of piety increases his confidence in his “God-given” right to hold and mistreat slaves. The “God” reason is use not only by the slave owners but also the church to earned money and uses slaves as an economic commodity.

Up to this time I had known nothing whatever of this wonderful art, and my ignorance and inexperience of what it could do for me, as well as my confidence in my mistress, emboldened me to ask her to teach me to read. With an unconsciousness and inexperience equal to my own, she readily consented, and in an incredibly short time, by her kind assistance, I had mastered the alphabet and could spell words of three or four letters. (Page 92)

This is the starting point that made Douglass curiosity about the literary. Even at the first he just know that text is kind of art, but then he braves himself to ask his mistress teach him alphabet so he can read. This kind is like the enlightenment for Douglass, he desire to learn more and more since he could read. Douglass then read the bible and found that the doctrine was false. No one part of bible tells that black and white people are created different. No part tells that black should be slaves and white become their master. Realized this matter Douglass started think the equality between the black and white people. There should be something wrong in the society that should make a correction so slavery system no longer exists in the society. Though Douglass himself gains his freedom by virtue of his self-education, he realized that knowledge is not automatically renders slaves free. Knowledge help then understanding their position and injustice of slavery and this awakened consciousness brings suffering. Douglass finally realizes that whites hold blacks in their power through a series of strategies that of depriving blacks of education and literacy.

The differences between the north states and south states in the slavery system could be found in chapter XI. When he escapes to the north and reaches New York City, he becomes free worker not longer as slave anymore. The North that is industrialized country is non slavery states. Almost people over there are abolitionist, the black people also consider as worker and human so they will get payment just the other worker. The north is the dream land for the slaves. Many slaves are run away from their master in the South’s and go to North. They get their individual freedom as human in the south states. The journey from the south goes to north not just a physical journey but also spiritual. The idea of spiritualism freedom is well done imaged by Douglass using the White-Sailed ships symbolizing. Their white sailed is associates with angels that bring them from suffering world to the heaven.

In the North, Douglass meets many people that inspired him to fight for black people individual freedom and erased the slavery system. One of them is William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the American anti-slavery Society. Together with Garrison, Douglass learns how good spectator becomes and wrote about his history as slaves and used it as narrative to influenced people to refused the slavery system. His fight from slaves becomes educated people is not as easy as open a hand, there are many tears and dangers he should faced. In the narrative itself, Douglass tried to give an image about how hard his life was when he was slave and uneducated people. Douglass, pick the historical background as one of the climax points in his narrative. The civil war in 1861, this was historical point to the slavery system, in which for the first time the black people are allowed to fight for the union. ….in history as one of the first steps. What was said on that occasions brought the whole question virtually before the American People. Until that interview the country was not fully aware of the intentions and policy of President Johnson on the subject of reconstruction.

Especially in respect of the newly emancipated class of the south. Since the North use slaves as their army they gained victory in the war. The slaves no longer called as slaves but rather then called as Negro. They are free people, but still they are not in same class with the white people. Their existence is recognized, but they still faced discriminated act from the society. Not just in economic life, but also in religion, the black people is not accepted well by the society, there still shock culture among the white people. “what!” said they, “baptize a negro? preposterous!” nevertheless the negro was baptized and admitted to church fellowship; and thought for long time his soul belonged to God, his body to his master, and he, poor fellow, had nothing left for himself, he is at last not only baptized, but emancipated and enfranchised.

From the quotations, Douglass tried to express the amazed of white people about idea of Baptized the black people. It’s sound strange to their ear. Baptized seems that the society should accept the black people as a part of their community, equal and noble as they are. Baptized is the start point to emancipated and enfranchised, an important point to maintenance existence. The other point that should be underline from the narrative is the point of view of Frederick Douglass about education. Education becomes something that very important in this narrative, education changes a slave become a free people. Education brings new virtue of life and the perspective of world. Douglass did not realize that there was wrong with the slavery system in the south until he learn to read. The power of word opened his mind and gives him inspiration to know more about the life, the life that he never imagined before. Education enlightened Douglass to question his individual freedom right as human being. Not merely give him answer to what happen in his life, but give him clue to fight for his life and his freedom.

When he started to read he know the position of black people on the society, especially in the south states, then he could make comparison with the condition in the north states. He believes that if all slaves could read and write they will get better life such as in the north states. They will be no longer as slaves but they become freeman.

The individual freedoms that Frederick Douglass tried to reach in this narrative are to get equality with the white people in every aspect of life. He gives image trough his narrative how cruel the slavery system and how he feel suffer being one of the slaves. No one will not feel sympathy to what happen of the Douglass childhood. This kind emotional feeling that Douglass tried to connect with the reader, made them accept the idea of anti-slavery and at the last they will support it.

Discrimination that Douglass tried to explore and made correction is not just the discrimination among races but also discrimination among gender. In many part of this narrative, he shows that men in the society at that time have superior power than women. Not only the white man to women slave, but also to white women.

Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master. This passage occurs in Chapter VI, after Hugh Auld orders Sophia Auld to stop Douglass’s reading lessons because he feels education ruins a slave for slavery. From the passage, the reader take perspective that who control the home and the slaves is man, not the wife. Wife (white women) is a formal status to fulfill the common law of society, but behind that many wife feel desperate and under pressure about their marriage situation. At the time, many men are fall in to raped and abused their slaves even have a child with them. That the women appear as images of abuse body, seems that women just a tool to satisfactory men’s desire.

Again and again Douglass point out the individual right of black people that have been break by slavery system to resuscitate the reader and the society how worse the system. Reconstruction of the society is needed not just physically but also mentally. To change the mind of American people (the white) that they are in same class with the black and other colored people. No one is in higher class nor in lower class, is all equal.

CONCLUSION

Frederick Douglass is not just a common narrative, but it was influential narrative. From the narrative the reader could have imaged of the slavery system in America at that time. From it’s also seen how Douglass struggle for his individual freedom, from an educated slave to educated and free people.

This narrative reflected the situation of the American society at that time. The old way of thinking that the white is superior than the black was very influenced the behavior of the white toward the black. The discrimination was rises and the rights are broke. Actually, Douglass critics this situation using his narrative, he tries to make correction to the society. Then he found the one way is using education. Right education will raise the question toward the situation, make people tries to find the impact of the situation, right and wrong, and then made correction to get better future then why right education? Because education at that time was the white doctrine that used for keep the black unliterary. Education that known by the black people is not formal education that learn how to read and write, but a knowledge that created by the white people. Knowledge that makes themselves thinking, that they are “made” as slave, whose serve the white one.

The narrative gives a new point of view about the slavery system toward the society. The cruelty that shown in its made people think twice about slavery, between its inhumanities or not. At the end Douglass success gain support for anti-slavery and reach his individual right as educated and freeman.

Bibliography

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