Frederick Douglass: Running To The North

Just like Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass already stood out from the rest of his fellow slaves at a height of 6’4. Frederick Douglass ability to read and write is unbelievable feat by itself but his persuasion with his words was powerful and influential. His demeanor commanded everyone’s attention and when he spoke all eyes were on Douglass. His willingness to show other slaves how to read and write is only part of his determination that is shown. Escaping from slavery and providing for his family shows great determination and pride within himself. His knowledge about slavery, the analogy used in speeches made Frederick Douglass one of the most important figures in history.

Throughout the nineteenth century there was a movement that swept the upper south. This movement was the abolitionist movement which made an effort to emancipate all slaves and stop racial segregation along with discrimination. This movement led to many renowned historical figures contributing through speeches and writings with the goal of seeking an end to slavery. One of these individuals was Frederick Douglass who escaped slavery with the determination to encourage freedom for all slaves.

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 one of the most important and influential African American leaders of the nineteenth century.”(Smith 1) Douglass remains one of the most recognized abolitionists in history today. He stopped at nothing, including sacrificing his own safety, for the good of the people. Douglass’ persuasive and informative work impacted slaves, slave owners, and abolitionists. Frederick Douglass’ accomplishments of escaping slavery and becoming a renowned black abolitionist has significantly impacted American life.

In his mind there was absolutely no chance for America to prosper if equal rights was not available to every single human being in America(Legacy and Significance of Frederick Douglass). Frederick Douglass knew how gifted he was, he knew that his spectacular vocabulary and speaking skills could help him accomplish great things. Along with the books and newspapers he wrote he gave amazing speeches. Whenever he saw the opportunity he used he oratory skills to denounce the dehumanization of the human race(Legacy and Significance of Frederick Douglass). Fredericks life story is extremely inspiring and is a perfect example of a person starting from the bottom and ending up on the

Even after the American Revolution, not everyone was given an equal opportunity to gain their civil rights and freedom. In particular, slavery was still a big issue that was going on after the American Revolution. The way that the slaves were being mistreated by their owners damaged them emotionally, intellectually, and physically. Frederick Douglass was a literary and historically significant slave who worked his way up from the struggles of slave-life. He eventually emerged as one of the most important leaders in the movement to abolish slavery. The way that slaves were being intellectually abused had the biggest domino effect of the way that they wouldn’t be able to self-empower themselves.

"It's easier to build strong men, than to repair broken ones" (Frederick Douglass). In response to the rising demand for labor in America, slavery gradually succeeded indentured servitude due to its outweighing "advantages" to landowners. Despite the prerequisite of having to have to money to purchase slaves, their denied freedom guaranteed lifelong service and provided more slaves via reproduction. Slavery was the universal, identifying characteristic of the South that powered and flourished their economy. Because of this, the unfortunate institution was considered by some a "necessary evil," or even so far as a "positive good." Although slavery was generally beneficial to the South, the repercussions of instilling power to one "superior"

By definition the word abolition means,” The act of abolishing... the state of being abolished... the legal prohibition and ending of slavery, especially of slavery of blacks in the U.S.(Definition).” When Frederick Douglass wrote his personal narrative it had a profound effect on the abolitionist cause. People were astounded at how it opened their eyes to the horror of what slavery genuinely was. The book allowed people to recognize how slaves felt, and reminded them that they were intellectual beings who had thoughts and feelings. Many repeating themes throughout the novel changed the lives and beliefs of many northerners, especially regarding education, equality, and freedom for slaves and

Who is affected by slavery? Frederick Douglass would argue that all people are damaged by the establishment of a slave state throughout his masterpiece by displaying to the reader how cruel people become when they diminish humans to mere possessions. In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Frederick Douglass in addition to revealing the horrors committed upon black slaves, shows a unique perspective on how slavery negatively affects white slave owners themselves. Slavery does in fact affect the slave owner and Douglas experiences this first hand through Sophia Auld by slowly watching her decay from being a caring person that even educated Douglass, to a cruel bitter slave owner that no longer cared about him.

What would you do if you were a slave for a day? How would you plan to escape? In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; Frederick was frorcibly enslaved as a young boy. During that time, he had to endure many years of pain and hardships in order to obtain his freedom. There are plenty of explanations as to why it took so long for his liberty from servility.

"He did this really well, because he made people understand the unknown, and made abolitionists out of many people. This man had a cause, as well as a story to tell" (Schomp, 25). Douglass, as a former slave, single-handedly redefined American Civil War literature, simply by redefining how antislavery writings were viewed.

All throughout grade school, and even for a little while in high school, we are taught about slaves. We are taught about their experiences and we are reminded of the experiences that they never got to have. Teachers focus mainly on the Underground Railroad, the history of slavery, and the well-known escapees such as Frederick Douglass. However, the one thing that they don't teach or even mention is what it was like to be a slave - this is for good reason, though. You can't paint a clear image in a child's head of what it's like to owned and operated by another person so all you can do is teach them about what the lives of other children and adults before 1865. While reading the assigned pages from Frederick Douglass' narrative, I began to

In history important events happen all of the time and all of those events happen because of a person. People are a very important part of history as a matter of fact without people there would be no history. People are the ones who record and make history everyday. One of those people who was very important in his time was Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass experienced first hand one of the most major problems the US has faced, slavery.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress”, said by the father of the civil rights movement, Frederick Douglass. In 1845, many white people did not consider that a slave was able to write their own autobiography. However, William Lloyd Garrison's preface is an evidence for Douglass that he wrote the book by himself. Douglass was afraid to stand up and tell his story, since he had no education and no public speaking skills. Garrison wants us to keep in mind that the most famous black man in the country is a former slave. This was a way of convincing the crowd of the wrongs of slavery and that slaves can become as successful as Douglass did. Douglass was born in Maryland in 1817, as a slave. He educated himself and was determined to escape from slavery. He tried to escape slavery once, but it was unsuccessful. He later made a successful escape of slavery in 1838. Douglass told his story about his own life in order to describe a slaves’ life as one. Bringing up his own parents was a way of explaining how slavery avoids slaves from having ordinary families. When viewing the slavery of African Americans, some will deny the negative effect it had on the African slaves. However, in his Narrative, Fredrick Douglass makes it obvious that some of the slaveholding characters are damaged by slavery. Slavery in the United States began soon after English colonists first established Virginia in 1607 and lasted as an authorized organization until the passing of the Thirteenth

Comparatively, Frederick Douglass, once a slave having fought for his escape, used what freedom he had to speak out against slavery. As an activist and writer, he inspired many people to support his cause to create an equal and free community. Douglass played a large role in the shaping of the states. Being the editor and writer for a black newspaper allowed him to spread his influence, and with this came his fame which allowed him to speak live, having written speeches that changed minds. His skill at persuasion and use of ethos, pathos, and logos widened his audience. Harsh truths were able to be shared with those who would listen, “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn,” (Douglass 3). In his works, Douglass knows how to work the audience towards sympathy and realization by using his powerful language. His adventures during the time of the civil war led him to the side of Abraham Lincoln, whom he greatly admired for their similar ideas on what is really equal. Both men worked together to organize black soldiers, collaborate on the Emancipation Proclamation, and Lincoln invited Douglass to help him with many other issues as his personal advisor (History 5). He used his skills to impact the population