Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave

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

In the “Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, written in the month of August 1841, demonstrates the double purpose of the work as both a personal account and a public argument. Douglass introduces the reader to his own circumstances such as grief, sorrow and emptiness in his birthplace and the fact that he does not know his own age. He then generalizes from his own experience, by explaining that almost no slaves know their true ages. He takes this detail of his experience and analyzes it but he points out that slave owners deliberately keep their slaves ignorant, and that this is a tactic whites use to gain power over slaves. This is the recurrent

Slavery is a dehumanizing and cruel part of American history. In “The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass” Douglass describes his horrible experience as a slave and the ignorance of people. Douglass begins his narrative by describing how he witnessed how unjust and horrific slavery could be as he watched his aunt being whipped. As he got older, he moved to Baltimore where his master’s wife was teaching him how to read but then his master puts a stop to the lessons making Douglass realize just how important education is and how that will lead him to freedom. America’s “land of the free” was only free for white people during the slavery era that resulted in acts that showed how wrong society was to oppress those who had a different skin tone.

Ironically inhumane. Maybe not ironic at all. Forced labor of humans being considered humane almost seems impossible. Everyone is human, they feel pain, excitement, emotion, actually maybe not emotion. Emotions are typically innate, sadness, happiness, but what about empathy? Slavery brought extreme empathy to some, but showed the void of empathy in others. Those lacking empathy can either be violent or depressed. They cannot feel for others, have no reason to try to find a connection. One major question exists, is empathy a learned emotion? Throughout the moving, enlightening, and harsh Fredrick Douglass autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave,” the former slave truly reflects on what the public is being kept from hearing about: actual slave attitudes. Written in 1845, around the time the strongest abolitionist movements were in the beginning stages, the recently freed slave provided a semi-live feed of what reality for the slave is truly like. With his stories of an abandoned childhood and an under privileged education, Douglass provides the reader with the feelings, sights, and smells of living in his shoes. Taking a retrospective view of the topic, one can jump to the conclusion of slavery being an obvious example of inhumane labor, and one that needed to be dismantled immediately. Looking at it from the point-of-view of an average individual living among others in the recently formed United States republic, one may be able to

​Being a slave was difficult from the beginning. In the case of Fredrick Douglass he was a product of unwanted love. He was born into slavery with no record or “accurate knowledge of "age.”(Douglass) He was the son of Harriet Bailey, who was “…the daughter of Isaac and Betsy Bailey, both colored and quite dark”(Douglass) and a slave of Captain Anthony. He had an unknown father that gave him the “The opinion whispered that my master was my father” who is referred to as his first owner Captain Anthony. Which displays the “Separation by violence from those they loved, sexual abuse appropriation.” (270) Indicates that woman were often being rape and abused by their slaveowners. This includes Fredrick Douglass being separated from his mother and has only seen her “more than four or five” (Douglass) in his entire life. “Struggled for years to keep their children together after emancipations…forced migration and sale.” (270)

In this short -yet well written- autobiography, Fredrick Douglas exposes the dehumanization and the brutality of slavery, while sharing his own story of defiance and escape. His great use of repetition is powerful and effective in conveying the underlying themes and meanings of the novel. Fredrick Douglas was a voice and an inspiration for all that suffered through slavery. He has impacte and influenced Fredrick Douglass’ own accounts as a slave, and deep insight reminds us of the cruelty and inhumane nature of slavery. He saw slavery as an evil force, creating havoc amongst the slaves and slaves holders.

Slavery on a plantation was drastically different from slavery in the city. Frederick Douglass the author of Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass was born and raised on the plantation as a slave. From his early years Douglass experienced life as a slave on a plantation. He was soon relocated to Maryland at the age of seven to the slave owner’s brother Mr. Auld. Douglass is moved back and forth from the plantation to the city. The areas of food, treatment and punishment, and clothing were contrasting between plantation and city. His narrative reveals the complexity of slavery in the 1800s, and highlights the contrasts between his life in the city and plantation.

For a large portion of the United States history, slavery was legal and prominent in Southern society. Slaves working on plantations were the main proponent of Southern American economy. Slaves working in the United States during this time, especially those working on plantations in the South, suffered through horrible living and work conditions and punishment. Slaves were forced under duress to work for long hours, and were whipped and beaten at their owner’s will. One of the most prominent slaves that attained freedom is Frederick Douglass, an internationally famous abolitionist. Douglass’s strong speech abilities and own experiences as a slave made him very famous during the abolitionist movement. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass many stories to portray the horrors of slavery. The narrative consists of Douglass’ life as a slave, and his path to freedom. The story also doubles as a persuasive argument, written in hopes that one day slavery would be abolished. Douglass is born a slave and spends much of his childhood discovering what it is to be enslaved. During this time growing up, he only sees the horrors of slavery. As he becomes older, Douglass starts to experience the terrors of slavery personally. Although the whipping was supposed to break Douglass, the punishment only strengthened Douglass’s character. Only when sent to Mr.

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1845. Ibiblio.org. Elegant Ebooks. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

Frederick Douglass wrote several books, but one of his best selling books was: The narrative life of Frederick Douglass. This book talks about how crucial Frederick’s life was since a child. His mother was Harriet bailey, a dark skinned women who was a pure breed African. His Father was a white man, rumors were circling that his master was his father. Since a newborn he was separated from his mother, which means that he couldn’t remember how her mother really looked like at all. It’s a common practice for the slave owners to be separated all children from their mother as soon as their child turns twelfth month old. The child is left behind with the care of an old lady to old for field labor. This is one way the whites would gain power over the slaves.

When reading through the book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Frederick Douglass, the reoccurring theme is about a slave and his slave-owner. When going into research, I came to the conclusion that the book accurately describes the relationships between a slave owner and his slaves. It also accurately describes how families between slaves are treated and formed.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass, is a poignant account of Douglass’ experiences as a slave in America. Born in Tuckahoe, Douglass, like most slaves, knew neither his birthday nor his father, although some suspected his master, Captain Anthony, of fulfilling the role of the latter. Later, during his time in Baltimore, Douglass learned not only the alphabet, but also taught himself how to read and write. It was during his self-education that Douglass began to loathe his masters and other slave owners, and became restless at the prospect of being a slave for the rest of his life. Under Mr. Freeland’s ownership, Douglass and a group of his fellow slaves came up with a strategy to escape their bondage, and

Merriam-Webster defines humans as of, relating to, or affecting people. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, written by himself, we have learned through his experiences that he disputes the ideas of slavery. Douglass provides evidence on how he and thousands of other black slaves were dehumanized by their slave holders. He was whipped, starved, and uneducated. Since you can be less human; can you be more human? If so, is the oppressor or the oppressed responsible for being less human? Throughout Douglass’s book he explains how he was dehumanized but if he was treated more humane, could he have been more human? Is it even possible to more human? Douglas was able to over come adversity by receiving an education, treating others how he wanted to be treated, and empathizing with people different than himself.

In Modern day America, the thought of slavery is horrifying. It is a dark chapter in the American history and should be fought against at all costs now. However, American used to know the reality of the atrocities that occurred on various southern plantations. Its because of slave narratives that the American people have come to realize the inhumane nature of slavery and thus, that led to political activism. One Slave that helped spread awareness of slavery in the united states was Frederick Douglass “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass”. Due to his extraordinary use of figurative language to help support his argument. Douglass succeeds in arguing his

Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom." These words once said by George Washington Carver align well with the ongoing theme of education versus ignorance throughout The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass. His life can be split in two: ignorance and education, before and after, darkness and light whatever classification you choose it is irrefutable that education changed his life and there is a clear delineation, a marked difference. The period of Fredrick's life that can be filed under ignorance is the time predating his move to Baltimore. Before the move Fredrick although a child was for all intents and purposes just like all the other uneducated slaves, stuck in a oppressive cycle of ignorance. And this was the slaveholder's intent, keeping slaves ignorant perpetuated the system.