Fredrick Douglas : The Inhumane Institution Of Slavery

During the nineteenth century, slavery widely accepted in the United States. Although the freedoms of “all men” were supposedly given in America by the Declaration of Independence, these rights did not expand to blacks who were free or under the confines of slavery. At the time, it was illegal for colored people to learn to read and for anyone to teach them. Because of this, very few people who were enslaved could read or write. Fredrick Douglas, who was born a slave around the year 1818, is the author of one of the only books of the time written by a black man, especially by a former slave. The book titled A Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, an American Slave, Written by Himself was

He notes that, the slavery institution made them forget about their origin, and anything else that entails their past, and even when they were born. The slaves forgot everything about their families, and none knew about their family because, they were torn from them without any warning. Douglass explains how they went without food, clothing and even sleep because their masters were cruel to them. American slavery took advantage of black laborers as they were beaten mercilessly without committing any offense. They were not treated as human beings, but as property that could be manipulated in any way. The slavery institution was harsh for the Africans especially women who were regularly raped, and forced to bear their masters children and if they declined, they were maimed or killed.

Slaves suffered but weren’t the victims of slave holders. They suffered from slavery. Frederick Douglass wrote a narrative of his position in slavery and as clearly as the sun in the sky, is against it, bringing together those who were too scared to voice their opinion and those who were willing to change. In his narrative he wanted to spread awareness about the American slave system and that it corrupts slave holders as well as harming slaves with his personal experience.

Fredrick Douglas, was a man who was born into the cruel act of slavery, around 1818 in Talbot, his original, well per se birth name was Fredrick Augustus Washington Bailey, Fredrick Douglas was not a soldier, but he was a man who was known as one, he changed the history of America for time to come.

In Fredrick Douglass’s a narrative, Narrative of The Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave, he narrates an account of his experiences in the dehumanizing institution of slavery. This American institution was strategically formatted to quench any resemblance of human dignity. Throughout, the narration of his life Fredrick Douglas, meticulously illustrates the methodical process that contributed to the perpetual state of slavery. In his narration Douglass, denounces the idea that slaves are inferior to their masters but rather, it’s the dehumanizing process that constructs this erroneous theory. Ultimately, the desires of his consciousness for knowledge ferociously leads him to mental and physical pursuit of his emancipation.

“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.

Douglas takes an amoral stance upon the question of slavery within the union and is indifferent to the spread of it. He invokes a principle of popular sovereignty, allowing the American people to vote upon slavery. Popular sovereignty embraces a state of indifference, which does not spread nor exclude slavery within the union, but rather allows the people to decide and form laws upon it. Lincoln argued,

Frederick Douglass’s Argument Against Slavery: Pathos and Logos Frederick Douglass was an extraordinary man who changed our world forever and helped start the revolution against slavery. In Douglass’s book he makes a strong argument against slavery using the reader’s emotions and logics. Douglass succeeds in doing this by using examples of religion, death, and the wrongdoing of slave owners. Frederick Douglass uses people's’ logics and what is rational throughout the book to convince people that slavery is wrong. Douglass discusses religion to argue his opinion throughout the book.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in February 1818 on the eastern shore of Maryland whose parent were a white man and slave woman by the name of Harriet Bailey. He was name after his mother, Harriet Bailey, but he only saw her a couple of times. At the age eight or nine he was sent to live with family of his slave owner’s in Baltimore, Maryland. By the age of fifteen, Frederick was literate. Around this same time, he went back to his owner to work as a field hand. Disguised as a sailor with a friend’s passport on September 3, 1838, three years after his return to the eastern shore, he got on train from Baltimore and went to New York City where he said I a free man. To avoid being recaptured he changed his name to Frederick Douglass. He went to Massachusetts and spoke about his experiences with slavery and how the country needs to get rid of it. He was soon traveling across the north speaking against slavery. To prove that he was a real fugitive slave he wrote his first autobiography The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass (1845). In the autobiography, he revealed his original name, his owner’s name, and where he was born, which put Douglass in danger of being returned back into slavery. So he had to flee again and this time he went overseas where he continued to speak against slavery. The British supporters were captivated with his story and they purchased his freedom. Two years after having his freedom purchased, Douglas came back to

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself is a powerful book in many respects. Douglass invites you to vicariously witness the monstrous atrocities he experienced during the antebellum period; a time when said atrocities were not only encouraged, but looked highly upon. Throughout his narrative, Douglass expresses his exponentially growing anger and fortitude. When the reader arrives at The Appendix, it soon becomes that much more apparent that the vice of slavery that is most troublesome to him, is the curtain of pseudo-Christianity surrounding it. Why did Douglass, against the advice of his publisher, decide to include this radical piece? Douglass was adamant about including The Appendix

There are many similarities between the life of an average slave in the 1800’s and the life of Frederick Douglass. One of the first pieces of his life that Douglass speaks of is that he has no accurate recollection of his age, and he states that he does not “remember to have met a slave who could tell of his birthday” (Douglass 1). On the same page, Douglass talks of his separation between he and his mother; the separation of slaves was very common, for in the Interview with an Ex-Slave of 101 Years of Age, the man being interviewed tells of just how quickly a newlywed couple could be separated, “Cause a couple would be married tonight an’ tomorrow one would be taken away and sold” (Ex-Slave #2 Paragraph 4). Douglass also would witness the hardships of whippings, sleeping on the cold hard floor with no blankets, and having little to no clothing to wear while his body was growing and maturing. Whippings

For instance, they were kept captive and were allowed to say and do very little. In the text, Douglass says, “ immediately chained and handcuffed; and thus, without a moment’s warning, he was snatched away, and forever sundered, from his family and friends.” In other words, this slave was snatched from his loved ones and forced into the hands of a different owner. Another example of slaves being dehumanized , Douglass states,” Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm.” To conclude mothers were taken from their children to work without any

Frederick Douglas, which is the famous leader in American slavery movement, and also he was the first slave that escaped from the south part of America, then he decided to write down his selves’ legend. In 1845, he published his first autobiography Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas. In this book, he written down the specific detail about his life of being a slave, and introduced his life experience in this book. He was a half-blood which his father was a white man mother was a black slave. As the same as we are watched the movie Twelfth year’s a slave, the baron or the master could have relationship with random slaves if he wants, because in the land he is the only right, even though god is existent. Because of his identity bring him a lot of trouble and lucky. The trouble is he could not have escaped the identity that his mother gave him, and could not get normally love from

Douglass gives detailed anecdotes of his and others experience with the institution of slavery to reveal the hidden horrors. He includes personal accounts he received while under the control of multiple different masters. He analyzes the story of his wife’s cousin’s death to provide a symbol of outrage due to the unfairness of the murderer’s freedom. He states, “The offence for which this girl was thus murdered was this: She had been set that night to mind Mrs. Hicks’s baby, and during the night she fell asleep, and the baby cried.” This anecdote, among many others, is helpful in persuading the reader to understand the severity of rule slaveholders hold above their slaves. This strategy displays the idea that slaves were seen as property and could be discarded easily.

In the narrative, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass recounts his childhood as a slave. Life as a slave is depressing and dehumanizing to say the least. Slaves live their whole lives oppressed by overseers, slaveholders, and society as a whole. Although, contrary to popular belief, slaveholders were also negatively affected by slavery. Not only did slavery change the way they viewed others, it perverted their morals as well. Essentially, any sane person given absolute power over another person has the potential to be cruel and treat others as less than human. The oppressive system of slavery harms not only the slaves, but the slaveholders as well as it morally corrupts the slaveholders by granting them absolute power over other human beings.