The Life Of Frederick Douglass An American Slave

The life of Frederick Douglass was as horrible and miserable as any other slave. However, since bravery was his most dominant trait Frederick’s life became the life of a hero. Born into slavery on the year of 1818, Frederick never really got to know his family and was separated at birth. Growing up, he knew that blacks like him were not supposed to be educated, or treated as well as the whites. This compelled Frederick even

First, the excerpt Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, presents a challenging childhood that eventually transition to a very successful life for him. In 1818, Douglass was born into slavery and thus, did not receive an education. By bribing poor white boys of the streets, he became educated and realized how

Frederick Douglass spent his first 7 years of life on Captain Anthony’s farm, working in the house. Here, he had a much easier time than those who worked in the fields. Those who worked in the field were treated poorly like most southern slaves. Slaves received little to no food, few clothes, and often slept on the ground with no bed. Frederick spent his time

Power; a person or organization that has a lot of control and influence over other people or organizations (Miriam Webster). We all have our own sense of some sort of power. Whether that power is over the United States of America. Or the power to vote as an American Citizen and decide who gets that power. It’s great thing but also a tainted thing.

Throughout our lives, we undergo many changes and we also see many changes in other people. Our world today has been influenced immensely by the world of the past. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick undergoes many changes in his life and the lives of the people around him especially the slaveholders that he served. Throughout the narrative, we as the reader see that slavery was a terrible thing and that it affected the slaves in horrific ways but not just the slaves were affected, the slaveholders were also affected in horrible ways.

Frederick Douglass believed that all people were born equal, but he also believed that humans were not just automatically born free. He deduced that man has the innate instinctive ability to mold themselves into whoever they wanted to become. So, naturally self-improvement and education were two crucial aspects of Frederick’s life. To Douglass the most horrific thing about slavery was the fact that slaves were totally and completely precluded from and form of education, which prevented them from improving themselves. Douglass worked exceedingly hard to obtain an education in order to ultimately become a free man. Although he still had to physically escape slavery his education played a vital role in his journey to freedom.

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by himself he tells his story as a slave growing up and becoming a free educated African American. He not only tells the hardships and the brutality of his life but he also informs you of those things in others’ lives as well. Frederick Douglass makes arguments, such as, the fact that slavery was terrible, brutal, and downright pointless in his narrative.

     The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the world outside of slavery. In Douglass’ narrative the tone is first set as that of an observer, however finishing with his own personal accounts.

Frederick Douglass’s life a slave was brutal. He was beaten by his master day in and day out. His master was named Captain Aaron Anthony. Douglass was born into to slavery so he lost his mother at a very young age and never knew his father. Since he was born into slavery Douglass did not have much of a life as a child. All he ever knew was to work. In 1825 Douglass’s owner sent him to another slave farm. He was sent to Baltimore, Maryland, since they were from the north Douglass was not treated as badly as he was before. The wife of his new slave owner even began to teach Douglass reading and writing until her husband put a stop to it. Even though his life was not as bad as it was beforehand, Douglass still did not enjoy the life he was living and wanted to do something about it.

The “Narratives of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is the story of Frederick Douglass’ life from the time he was born into slavery, to the time he escaped to freedom in the north. When Douglass wrote this book, slavery was still legal in a large portion of the United States. After Douglass’ escape to freedom and his continuation of his education, he became an abolitionist through his works of literature and speeches. In “The Blessings of Slavery”, by George Fitzhugh he states that southern slaves for the most part are the freest and happiest people in the world. He also goes on to say a number of other things that basically establish that slaves live an easy and good life compared to others. Frederick Douglass’ pure story telling in the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” directly goes against any argument for slavery from Fitzhugh, by revealing the harshness of the institution of slavery and the individuals behind it. In each piece of literature both authors also unknowingly touch on topics of early American history such as free labor ideology and paternalism therefore deepening our knowledge of popular understandings during this time period. Douglass refutes Fitzhugh’s pro-slavery argument of the average slave living an ideal life, by disproving early ideas of the free labor system and paternalism through real life encounters of the physical oppression slaves faced on the day to day basis in the forms of inhumane treatment and violence, as well as the true harsh

“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.”

Frederick Douglass’, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a condensed narrative that retells the story of Douglass’ life as a slave from childhood until his escape as an adult. Douglass' situation received change a few times. He was mainly a city-dwelling slave, in Baltimore, although he briefly was sent to work in the fields. His descriptions of how slavery lowers both slave and master are insightful and miserable. Due to the fact that the story serves as an eyewitness account, it is a convincingly wrenching condemnation of slavery.

During the time of slavery, black men were not known to be human and therefore, slaves were thought to be undeserving of the same freedoms as whites; this caused them to be disciplined in unpleasant and harsh ways. Christianity was distorted by slave owners as an excuse that the slaves must submit to their masters. In his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, the author, Frederick Douglass (1845/1995) proves that slaves deserved their freedom because of their humanity, religionists supported their actions with misinterpreted beliefs, and blacks received their punishment in many different forms.

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.

Frederick Douglass, the author of the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass was a self-taught slave that was able to escape the brutality of slavery in the year of 1838. Frederick Douglass’s book is separated into 3 main sections, including, a beginning, middle, and end. The purpose of the narrative is to improve the audience's understanding of Douglass’s experience of being a slave, the horrible treatment slaves received, and how Douglass was able to overcome and escape slavery. All throughout the narrative, Douglass uses many rhetorical devices, including, diction, imagery, and syntax, which helps the audience understand, one of his main chapters, chapter 5. In this chapter Douglass implies that the overall purpose is to emphasize the animalistic, inhuman treatment slaves received, how Douglass felt about leaving Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, and his luck of being able to move to Mr. and Mrs. Auld's.