Slavery In Fredrick Douglass : The Idea Of Being A Slave

From the opening sentences of the narrative, Douglass defines the context by imposing the question of what it means to be human. Douglass reveals the fact that slave owners typically thought of slaves as animals. Douglass does not know how old he is, and he quickly declares that this is not unusual, since most slaves "know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs." It is instructive that this initial comparison of slaves to animals does not serve to express something about the minds of the slave owners; instead, it expresses something about the minds of the slaves that is the consequence of being born into an environment constructed and carefully maintained by their owners. In an environment that does not permit the idea that slaves are human, the only perspective available to them is that of their owners. Their own perspective therefore becomes an additional barrier to thinking of themselves as human. Douglass reveals more about the psychological struggles that slaves go through when he describes the pain of separation and death of his mother. He was separated from his mother when he was an infant. He never enjoyed his mother’s watchful care. Slaveholder’s don’t want slaves to be attached to their mothers or establish love bonds between them. They also “destroy the natural affection of the mother for the child.” He received the news about his mother’s death

Frederick Douglass lived in a time of great discrimination for his race and belittlement form whites. The blacks were taken into slavery and treated as less than animals by their slave owners. Frederick experienced many unnecessary whipping and other countless acts of violence being showed towards him. Frederick Douglass showed the horrors of slavery by describing his life as a plantation slave and the life of other slaves around him on the plantation and observing the cruelty of the city dwellers who owned slaves.

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

Fredrick was always troubled by the lack of information slaves knew about themselves. He didn’t have an identity beyond knowing he was born a slave. “By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant.” (217) Although, this information was not peeve to slaves nevertheless, it was a source of unhappiness for Douglass. In addition, Fredrick like most slaves never developed a relationship with his mother. He was certain it was deliberate on the part of the master, “to hinder the development of the child’s affection to mother, and to blunt and destroy the

“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

Douglass experiences the brutality of slavery for the first time when he sees his Aunt Hester. He described his experience by stating, “I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was quite a child, but I well remember it. It was the first of a long series of such outrages, of which I was doomed to be a witness and participant. It was a most terrible spectacle. I wish I could commit to paper the feelings with which I beheld it.” (Page 7) This shows how Douglass did not have the words to describe how terrifying it was to see how black people were treated and how it was all legal. Douglass was separated from his mother when he was very young. Slaves were often separated from their family as soon as they are born and would not know their age. Douglass says, “The white children could tell their ages, I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege.” (Page 1) As a child, it confused him why he could not know his own age and how that made sense. Slavery deprived slaves of the many illogical things, like knowing their

Fredrick Douglass was a slave whom was kept in the State of Maryland. He was an African American social reformer, orator, abolitionist, writer, and a statesman. Fredrick was born into being a slave in the year 1818, considering that his mother was a slave woman. However, Fredrick had no choice to be seen and treated like a slave because of where he was born into. Fredrick was born into this world and he says that there were whispers about his father being his master. He was separated from his mother and put into work at the age fifteen. He tried several times to escape, and after finally breaking free and escaping in September of 1838, as a slave he went on to accomplish many things. He became one of the most famous knowledgeable men of his

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.

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.

In The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, Fredrick Douglass tells stories of his life as a slave and a many of his horrible experiences. During the time of slavery, people were discriminated against because of their skin color and where they come from. African-Americans were forced to work for British white people in America for many years. These slaves were not treated with respect nor where they treated like human beings. They were seen as animals and over-worked. Douglass was born into slavery and was a slave for many years of his life until escaping to freedom. Fredrick Douglass describes what life was like in slavery and how slaves were treated by their masters. Slavery was a dehumanizing

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

The year was 1818, a time of hardship and trials, as people were fighting for freedom, trying not to start another war. Frederick Douglass was born during this year, helping him become who he is today. The hard times of 1818 helped him write his famous works, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and My Bondage and My Freedom. Douglass did not live a normal life, and had a rough start. Between losing family and trying to learn to read, how did he managed to do many amazing things? The answer is that Douglass simply would not give up.

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass depicts his life as a plantation slave, offering misinformed northern Christians and reformers in-depth accounts of the physical and emotional cruelties of slavery. As Douglass recounts his relationship and interactions with the harsh Mr. Covey, he disputes the basis on which southern slaveowners defended slavery. Douglass dispels their claims of encompassing a Christian duty to civilize blacks who they deemed naturally inferior by proving how they actively worked to keep slaves from assimilating and contributing to society.

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.