Life of a Slave Girl and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

‘The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass’ is an autobiography of Frederick Douglass, the slave who escaped and became one of renowned social reformers of his time. The book is a collection of actual experiences of the author during his time in slavery and experiences of fellow slaves. He describes brilliantly the oppressive conditions into which he was born, lived, as well as his struggles and triumphs. The author meant to make the reader comprehend life of the African Americans in slavery before the ending of slavery. He also meant to highlight the misuse of religion and to use it to control other people whom they deem inferior.

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.

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

Frederick Douglas is a former slave, abolitionist, writer, editor, and orator. He was born in 1818 and died in 1895. Throughout Douglass’ early years he suffered physical abuse, deprivation, and tragedy. Although he had a rough start he overcame every obstacle thrown his way and became a great spokesman for his people. Douglass didn’t really know who was as a person all he knew was what people told him. Throughout his early life he looked at the life of the white kids and judge his life based on theirs and he felt that his life was totally unfair because he was not afforded the same privileges as his Caucasian peers. In 1835 Frederick Douglass overheard his master say that he was 17, and this was the first time he ever heard anything of his age (1).

Through literary techniques, authors create stories that are appealing and build on the understanding of their audience, providing them with the tools necessary to bring change within society. This is exhibited in Jacob and Douglass’s narratives as they depict the human relationships between races through their description of the dehumanizing body of slavery. In the novel, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, set from early to middle 1800s in southern states, Frederick Douglas highlights the brutal aspects of slavery as he transitions into adulthood and seeks to obtain freedom, something that serves as a source of inspiration for former slaves. Similarly in the slave narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs depicts Linda’s journey to freeing herself from the powerful grasp of slavery while trying to save her relationships with others at the same time. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs share their stories in order to present white audiences with the horrors of slavery and serve as agents for change within society.

Imagine being born into slavery, where you 're forced to work, barely fed, and whipped a couple times of day. Rumble! That is the sound you hear in your stomach. Each night after working in the field for an hour a time. Pain that 's what you feel after being whipped, for not moving fast enough as you should, mainly because you are tired. You live this life of a slave. Your name is Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass once said, “Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave. Frederick Douglass did not have an easy life, he has had a painful life. Douglass was born into slavery. His mother was black, and his father was an white man, as an infant, he was separated from his mother, and around the age of twelve his mother passed away. Eventually Frederick Douglass successfully escaped on the train, and he became the voice of slaves. He was able to speak up and out about the unequal treatment of slaves, unfortunately slavery still continues to today around the world, especially in America, with Atlanta been the top location for human trafficking. Frederick Douglass was able to speak up for the slaves who could not speak up for them, so he was the voice for the powerless. There are ministries, non- profits organizations, and we as individuals. as the voice for young men and women who kidnapped it 's our job, to use our voices to speak up against people who can 't speak up.

“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.”

The son of a slave woman and an unknown white man, "Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey" was born in February of 1818 on Maryland's eastern shore. His father was more than likely his mothers slave master, which was not uncommon during these times. Fredrick spent his early years of life with his grandparents and an aunt. At about the age of six, his grandmother took him to the plantation of his master and left him there. Not being told by her that she was going to leave him, Douglass never recovered from the betrayal of the abandonment. He only saw his mother four or five times before her death when he was only seven. All Douglass knew of his father was that he was a white man. During this time he was exposed to the degradations of slavery, witnessing firsthand brutal whippings and spending much time cold and hungry.

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.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born February 1818. Being a slave from birth, he was separated from his mother, Harriet Bailey. Although, he was separated from his birth mother, he did live with his biological grandmother, Betty Bailey. He soon discovered that his father was a white man, and some whispered it was the slave master. Frederick lived in Maryland but when he got older, he got hired to work in Boston.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal;” this quote is from the Declaration of Sentiments written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton for the Seneca Falls Convention held on July 19th and 20th of 1848. This convention was the first to be organized by women for women’s rights and Frederick Douglass was the only African-American in attendance. Because of his attendance, one would assume that he supports women’s rights, but based on his portrayal of his female characters in his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, he may have a view of women that sees them as secondary to men through his underdeveloped female characters, also he finds it shocking that they can be capable

Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. Philosophy can shape the way a person views the world and make decisions. In some cases one’s personal philosophy can lead them to a positive outcome, while in others it does nothing but harm. Within works of both non-fiction and fiction, the philosophy of a character and how they follow it shapes their own outcome. This can be found in slave narratives such as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, as well as Native American short stories like “Spider Woman’s Web” and “The First Woman and the People”.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass perfectly depicts the dreadful experience of living in slavery. From being unsure of the day he was born, to his first beating from a master, to the brutal and exhausting work, and to the joyous day he was freed. Besides describing his experience as a slave, he describes the toll slavery had on the masters and families of slaves. Frederick Douglass also includes his view of education in relation to freedom. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a good excerpt from The Classic Slave Narratives that can be considered a good historical resource due to the historical content it provides about slavery.

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.