The Life And Times Of Frederick Douglass

The brutality that slaves endured form their masters and from the institution of slavery caused slaves to be denied their god given rights. In the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," Douglass has the ability to show the psychological battle between the white slave holders and their black slaves, which is shown by Douglass' own intellectual struggles against his white slave holders. I will focus my attention on how education allowed Douglass to understand how slavery was wrong, and how the Americans saw the blacks as not equal, and only suitable for slave work. I will also contrast how Douglass' view was very similar to that of the women in antebellum America, and the role that Christianity played in his life as a slave and then

knowledge would lead slaves to question the right of whites to keep slaves. Lastly, by keeping

The autobiography commences with the narrator explaining his place of birth: Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, Talbot County, Maryland. One of his first inner struggles with which Douglass carried along throughout his life was the fact that had no knowledge of his birthday. The best estimate had been roughly 1818. Furthermore, he neither knew his father’s identity nor saw his mother as often as he would wish. Although he was separated from his mother at a tender age, Douglass narrates how she would sometimes sneak from a nearby plantation at night to sleep with him. His mother, Harriet Bailey, soon died but due to the lack of connection, her death did not have an emotional impact on him. On the other hand, it was widely speculated that his father was a white man and his captain’s first helper.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, more commonly known as Frederick Douglass, was born around 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland (Hagler). Douglass was one of the most influential human rights leaders and one of the most renowned abolitionists. By learning to read and write around the age of 10, Douglass was able to develop a greater understanding of the world that didn’t revolve around slavery, along with the desire to become a free man and civil rights activist (Hagler). Douglass is now well known for his famous autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, in which he recalls his many experiences in slavery and the ways he dealt with the daily suffering. In his autobiographical narrative, The Narrative of the Life

“You are a product of your environment.”- W. Clement. The way you were raised, the people who raised you and the community that you are raised in all play a role in who you are as an individual. Constantly throughout time the way an individual defines themselves is based on their roots, the actions or reactions that have built a foundation of who they’re today. Through the lens of a slave later turned into one of the largest faces of abolitionist acts, Frederick Douglass creates “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” in which he accounts the community he was raised in and the constant fear instilled within his community as well as his later assimilation into new communities and possibly being responsible for creation of a

Frederick Douglass was so over slavery that he decided to escape from it and become free. Before escaping, he went to work for Mr. Butler who had a shipyard and from there he would try to run away. Mr. Butler never suspected anything bad from Douglass, so he would pay him twenty five cents. Working for Mr. Butler was not a bad experience for Douglass, Mr. Butler was a good master towards him. Douglass loved his friends and was sad he would have to leave them again. When the day came, he was more nervous than ever, since escaping from your

Frederick Douglass believed that slavery was terrible for slaves. Douglass was born in Talbot County, Maryland. He was separated from his mother at a young age. He had no accurate knowledge of how old he was. His mother was also a slave. He recalled only seeing his mother five or six

The narrative begins with Douglass being oblivious to the identity of his father. This theme of Frederick Douglass being young and naïve is continued throughout the beginning. The idea of slaves being young and naïve is seen in almost all slave narratives. One of the ways slave owners kept slaves captive is through keeping the slaves ignorant. It is nearly impossible for a slave to escape slavery if they cannot read and write. Slave owners knew how impossible this was so they kept them ignorant, they kept them from learning. Since ignorance is what seems to hold slaves captive, one could easily conclude that knowledge is the key to freedom. Douglass figured this out at a young age. He starts learning from Mrs. Auld but eventually ends up

As a young child, Frederick Douglass was introduced to the acts of violence towards the slaves including the all too common whippings. He says, “I have often been awakened at the down of day by the most heart-rendering shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood.” One could only imagine the horrid pictures that slaves would have seen on a daily basis of other slaves nearly being beaten to death by their masters. For the black children growing up on the plantation, the master was seen to be a man of great power and not to be taken lightly. This was exactly

devices throughout his narrative to show the reader why slavery was such a horrific time. He was very

House slaves were given nicer clothing to wear, as to be presentable in the home, while field slaves often received merely a “homespun shirt that was made on the plantation”. Clearly, a distinction can be made between then house slave and field slave and although one might conclude that the house slave was treated better it truly depended on the plantation owner and his or her treatment of the slave.

In his youth, Douglass felt inferior to other boys his age because of his slave status. Frederick Douglass was often whipped by his masters and suffered from hunger and cold. As an outcome from being a child and not old enough to work in fields yet, Douglass often had leisure time which include keeping Master Daniel Lloyd company. To his advantage as the master’s son being attached to him, he would not let Douglass be “made fun of by older kids and would shares his sweets with him” (Douglass, 5). Even as child, Douglass knew he would never be able to enjoy life like his master’s son. He knew slaves were not given the same amount of freedom like citizens or indentured servants. Slaves were not permitted by law to read or write. A slave could not go anywhere with a written consent form from his or her master. There were no laws that stop a white slave owner from abusing their African slaves. The slaves worked more intensive labor for less benefits of an indentured servant because of the law. A slave would cook and clean, tend crops, and do other assignments from dawn to dusk (Sewall, The Sin of Slaveholding, 3). These hours were much longer than an indentured servant. Although the son was the same age as him, Douglass would be always a lower status than him.

In order to do so, he looks to convince his audience that slavery is an institution that impacts both the slaves and the slaveholders. His emotional tone, driven by logic and straightforwardness, highlight the many ethical dilemmas he faces in his life. From being labeled as a “slave for life” to learning to read and to the many traumatic incidents he experiences, Douglass skillfully uses ethos, pathos, and logos to bring out the emotion of his readers and convince of the evils of slavery. He writes, “I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me, and behold a man transformed into a brute” (Douglass, Chapter 10). His powerful and descriptive language in this statement essentially puts the reader in his shoes and provokes an emotional response. One moment he was optimistic and suddenly he was crushed by the reality that he woke up to everyday.

Samuel Wood wrote and published an article about the cruel treatment of the slaves in the south. He stated, “"The field slaves are called out by daylight to their work: if they are not out in time, they are flogged." Many slaves were also beaten for simply believing they were not supposed to be a slave and wanting freedom. James Curry was a slave that lived on a southern plantation during this time and he said, “ No matter how ignorant masters kept their slave it was ‘impossible to beat into them that they were made a slave.” Even if a slave was sick or a small child did not mean on the plantation they would be looked upon different than any of the other slaves in better health or that were older than them.

Frederick Douglass, a young slave whose mother was dead and father was absent, experienced many hardships a young person should not experience. When he was around seven or eight, an event had changed his life for the better: his move to Baltimore. Douglass heard many things about Baltimore from his Cousin Tom who described it very exquisitely. In the close reading of the passage from the autobiography, The Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, during his years as a slave he believed he had a spirit that never left him and once this event occurred, that changed his life, he knew this spirit was from God.