Frederick Douglass An American Slave Summary

Frederick Douglass, who was born into slavery around 1818, will forever remain one of the most important figures in America's struggle for civil rights and racial equality. As an ex-slave, his inspiration grew beyond his boarders to reach the whole world. Without any formal education, Douglass escaped slavery and became a respected American diplomat, a counselor to four presidents, a highly regarded speaker, and an influential writer. By common consent Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845) is recognized as the best among the many slave narratives that appeared before the Civil War. He amazed people when he spoke bravely in his Fourth of

Frederick Douglass was born in Maryland in 1818 as a slave to a maritime captain, Captain Anthony. After decades of enslavement, Frederick Douglass escaped to the North and became one of the prominent members and drivers of the abolitionist movement. In an effort to provide an eye-opening account of the harsh treatment of slaves, Douglass wrote Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his autobiography, Frederick Douglass detailed his life beginning from his meager early years through his escape to the North. In writing his autobiography, Douglass utilized a variety of techniques including the use of the three rhetorical strategies: Ethos, Pathos and Logos to create a powerful and influential argument against the institution of

While Douglass and his wife were in Massachusetts in the 1840’s, Douglass became a founding member of the gaining abolitionist movement. When Douglass had the opportunity to meet fellow abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison the two were at an abolitionist meeting. Douglass was rushed in front to tell the crowd about injustices he saw and personally faced while in slavery. Garrison witnessed the power that Douglass had to inspire crowds while also bringing to light the injustices. He saw Douglass as a possible face of the blossoming movement. One of the x factors Douglass had was that he was very well spoken and could talk as if he had been formally educated.

In Frederick Douglass 's first autobiography, "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass”, he provides a graphic portrayal of his childhood and disturbing experiences as a slave as well as his eventual escape to freedom. Douglass went through physical abuse, starvation, and mental fatigue during his youth, yet through unimaginable circumstances he was able to overcome everything and become a writer, newspaper editor, and most of all one of the most influential abolitionist. In telling his story, Douglass paints a realistic picture of slavery. Douglass 's narrative spells out the slaveholders ' tactics in simple terms while highlighting the moral inefficiencies and the damaging effects of slavery on both the slave and the slaveholder

As the most famous abolitionist African American leader, Fredrick Douglass is a political, historical, and literary figure whose words still reverberate the true meaning of freedom and political, economic, and social equality for all. Born a slave, Douglass was able to recount his story to a pre-Civil War American public, which had a tremendous effect on the views whites had about slavery and its role in American society. Douglass became a self-educated man as he grew up within the entanglements of slavery, but as a child he did not realize the effect that knowledge would eventually have on his life. His mistress, Sophia Auld, began teaching him how to read until his master Hugh Auld warned her against its effects on the regression of Douglass’s quality as a slave. In his renowned autobiography, Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, published in 1845, Douglass uses well-developed literary techniques in order to communicate his philosophical ideals about the institution of slavery and the inhumane horrors and depravity African slaves in the United States underwent. Douglass’s literary success allowed him to become the most famous spokesperson for abolition, and although he faced strong resistance from anti-abolitionist and pro-abolitionist groups, his perseverance allowed him to “[present] himself as a representative American whose rise to prominence spoke to the promises of the nation’s egalitarian ideology” (Baym 934).

During the eighteenth century, slavery was already well-established section of the American labor system. As the amount of slaves grew in size, they did not receive rights, and were mostly separated from their families. They were mostly needed for agricultural labors and had to work mostly from dusk to dawn. Frederick Douglass’s experiences as a slave was different than that other colonial labor because of the strict treatment he received from his masters, the inferiority to other humans that he felt, and the harsh conditions he lived in.

In this theme, Fredrick Douglass contrasts the both forms of Christianity to show the underlying hypocrisy in slavery. The results show that slavery is not religious as it exposes the evils in human bondage. These ideals however can be distorted so as to fit in the society.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was written by Douglass himself, giving a detailed description of the slaveholders cruelty. Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, and he makes known that he does not know his specific birthdate, “... no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.” (47), but it was approximately around 1818. Once being enslaved, and then escaping in 1838 he became known as an eloquent speaker for abolitionists, being able to deliver passionate speeches about the role of a slaveholder and their relationship to their slaves, especially since he was one of them. Douglass even discovered the true meaning of the songs sung by enslaved people, “ I did not, when a slave, understand the deep meaning of those rude and apparently incoherent songs, I was myself within the circle; so that I neither saw nor heard as those without might see and hear.” (27). The book is not an easy read for those who believe in equal rights, as Douglass put into painful words the description of brutal whippings, signs of no mercy, and people being taken advantage of because if they had shown mercy they believed they would have lost their dignity.

Once he realized this, he made sure that he would find a way to be taught how to correctly read, write, and speak. At only twelve years old Douglass was sent to the Baltimore home of Hugh Auld. While there, Auld’s wife began teaching Douglass the alphabet and he then began to learn from other people, including white children in the area. These teachings would give Douglass the tools he needed to help shape his views on slavery and human rights. He then took what he learned and began to share his knowledge with others. Not only did Douglass have defined views on slavery, but he also had clear ideas of how people were to be treated. Douglass even had to defend himself against one of his slave masters that tried to beat him. After Douglass took action and defended himself he was no longer physically attacked. In 1845, he published his first autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” His autobiography told the story of his life as a slave and his journey to freedom. Many people had doubts that Douglass actually produced a prominent level of writing because he was a former slave with no official education. Douglass eventually edited his autobiography and ended up with three copies. Later on, he began to produce his own newspaper, the North Star.

Garrison heard about Frederick and wrote about him in the Liberator and after speaking about his experiences at an abolitionist meeting he became well known as a speaker. He also wrote an autobiography called “Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave” in 1845 but later rewrote it. Frederick eventually drifted away from Garrison as a result of different opinions and went on to be one of the most famous black man in

In the 1800’s, slavery was a huge part of America. Slavery helped boost the economy and was heavily dependent upon by Americans. Slaves were treated as if they were not humans, but property. Slaves natural right of freedom was taken away by the white Americans. This oppression occurred in America, while they claimed that their nation was the nation of freedom and liberty. One of the slaves that would help change history was named Frederick Douglass, and he had a lot to say about American hypocrisy. Frederick Douglass was a former slave. He taught himself to read and write at a young age, and years later he started his own newspaper called “The North Star”, and ended up writing and editing most of the articles himself. Another thing he

While Slavery was against human nature and while Abolitionists believed in ending the practice of slavery, the South had their own reasons why slavery was needed in America and how basically they supported pro slavery. For instance, some arguments for slavery followed this so-called logic: “Sudden end to the slave economy would have had a profound and killing economic impact in the South where reliance on slave labor was the foundation of their economy. If all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos. And by comparison with the poor of Europe and the workers in the Northern states, that slaves were better cared for” (ushistory.org). But in a section from, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, written by him, Douglass describes some of the brutality that he had witnessed. “The overseer’s name was Plummer. Mr. Plummer was a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster. He always went armed with a cowskin and a heavy cudgel. I have known him to cut and slash the woman’s heads so horribly, that even master would be enraged at his cruelty, and would threaten to whip him if he did not mind himself. Master, however, was not a humane slaveholder” (Douglass 44). This shows the brutality that even female slaves endured and while the Maser may have showed some sense against the cruelty that the slaves faced, it wasn’t enough to say that they too were also cruel. Just putting aside the inhumanity depicted in true

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” This famous quote is from a speech given by one of America’s most influential abolitionist speakers, Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery, this great American leader led a life many of us would find impossible to bear. After gaining his freedom from slavery, Douglass shared his stories through impressive speeches and vivid autobiographies, which helped America move forward as a country liberated from racial inequality. Although Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave allows readers to understand what life was like for slaves in antebellum America, the most important and relevant lesson to take away from this narrative today is the importance of perseverance. Douglass’s courage to resist and learn paired with his determination to keep his faith and ultimately find himself, is something to which people from every culture and time period can relate.

“My mother was of a darker complexion than either my grandmother or grandfather. My father was a white man. He was admitted to be such by all I ever heard speak of my parentage.”

Today, I began my day like usual, working on the plantation. I was born a slave. All I knew was my grandma since my parents had to work long hard days and the plantation owners did not want families to be together. We were both black and she, too, never knew her parents. One day she took me to meet some other kids who lived on the plantation and when I turned around she was gone. I never saw her again and I had been working on this plantation since then.