preview

Effects Of Frederick Douglass'sense Of Manhood

Decent Essays

Frederick Douglass was an inspiring African American speaker, writer, politician, and social reformer. Shortly after Douglass escaped from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining acknowledgment for his brilliant speeches and keen antislavery writing ability. As a former slave, Douglass stood as a living counteraction to slave-owners' arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual ability to function as prosperous American citizens. Slavery had an enormous impact on Frederick Douglass' sense of manhood. Within this essay, I will analyze the various effects that slavery had on Douglass' sense of manhood. In the past, due to Frederick Douglass being a former slave, he most likely experienced firsthand all the brutal hardships that serving as a slave had to offer. For example, most slaves were introduced into an environment in which most would succumb to savage or animalistic behavior. This was because of how poorly most slaves were treated by their slave owners. Frederick Douglass likely witnessed how female slaves were beaten and raped. Douglass also likely witnessed how all slaves were basically treated as primitive Americans that were used as tools. Furthermore, from the beginning of a …show more content…

He wanted to sever the bonds that had restrained him for so long and forced him to endure so much pain and suffering. Douglass actually regarded the place he was held "as the blood stained entrance to the hell of slavery." As time passed on and Douglass grew older he began to compel other people to seek their independence as he had previously done. Frederick Douglass came to the conclusion that a person could not consider himself free as long as his brother was a slave. Douglass explained, "We are one people - one in general complexion, one in a common degradation, and one in popular estimation." As one rises, all must rise. As one falls, all must

Get Access