The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

Even though the words of his master degrade Douglass, they also inspire him to pursue reading and freedom more passionately. When Douglass sees how intimidated his master, Hugh Auld, is at the idea of his wife, Sophia Auld, teaching young Frederick to read, he realizes that knowledge is truly power. He feels the constraint his master imposed on him his entire life, and he begins to understand how to free himself. Douglass writes that, “From that moment I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom…I was gladdened by the invaluable

Although he strived to know more, Douglass “was not allowed to make any inquiries [toward his] master” (1). At this time, if a slave did ask it was deemed “improper and impertinent” (1). Douglass believed that one of his masters was, in fact, his father

At the beginning of the book, Douglass explains to the reader how many times he had moved. With every move, he had a new slave owner. Every slave owner treated him differently than the last. Some were worse than others but for the most part, they were the same. Douglass was not just abused and bullied by one or two people, he was abused by many different owners. This means he had multiple people treating him cruelly with too much power over him and other slaves. This means Douglass had witnessed many cases of abuse and terrible things happening to slaves.

    According to Abraham Lincoln, “Slavery is founded on the selfishness of man’s nature; opposition to it on his love of justice”. Frederick Douglass published a book on his life that he wrote in 1845, titled “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”. It has been said that he followed in the footsteps of Olaudah Equiano who also written an autobiography known as “Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano in 1789. In the book the “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass”, the author takes his reader with him on his personal life journey to when he was born into slavery all the way until his freedom. The author introduces the beginning the narrative by saying that he is from Tuckahoe, Maryland continues by telling the reader that his mother named Harriet Bailey and was an African-American woman, who also had African American parents who were both colored. However, it has been said that his father was a white man that was also his master. Additionally, Douglass was separated from his mother when he was an infant and he never saw her to really know her as his mother.  According to the author, he says he had two master in his lifetime, the first named, Captain Anthony who was a cruel man.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is written by the ex-slave Frederick Douglass and recounts his life as a slave and his ambition to become a free man. This edition is edited with an introduction by David W. Blight, an American History teacher.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography that gives a personal perspective on the life of a slave laborer in the rural south. Douglass, a fighter against all odds, was an African American social reformer, writer, statesman, and most importantly abolitionist. Frederick Douglass afforded himself an education against his slave masters will, and was able to read and think. This opened up his thoughts about the evils of slavery and worthy motives for its abolishment. The original reason for his hatred of slavery was not only its effects of dehumanizing slaves, but their masters too. Throughout his autobiography, Douglass talks about the many ways a slave and master would be corrupted by the labor system that was so deeply

​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)

Douglass uses family relationships, starting with his own birth, to gain the compassion of his target audience. He never knew the identity of his father, but it was "whispered" (Douglass, Narrative, 43) that it was his master. Douglass shocked his Northern white readers when he informed them that slaveholders regularly split slave families for no reason. This upset Northerners because their family units were the foundation of their communities. People couldn't believe that slave children were taken

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

Frederick Douglass was an African American slave in the 1840’s who shared his struggles in his narrative in order to show how he succeeded and achieved his goals that were seemingly impossible for a slave. Douglass was one of the few slaves who safely escaped, and was given the opportunity to speak publicly about his experiences. This was a way for him to truly share his horrific experiences he endured as a slave, but to also share his daily struggle of cruelty because of his race. By sharing his story, Douglass has shaped the lives of future generations of African Americans and shown what it means to rise above it and make something of himself, and to never give up.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was written in 1845 by Frederick Douglass, an American writer and orator. Douglass’ memoir recounts his time as a slave and his motivation to become a free man. Douglass first realized he was a slave when he sees his master brutalizing his Aunt Hester. He recalls,

Frederick Douglass lives his life without the knowledge of where he was born, who his parents are, or simply, who he is. This has a major effect on his encompassing commentary on slaves. Douglass takes his experience and further analyzes it as he points out that slave owners deliberately keep the slaves ignorant of their past as a tactic to keeping them under their control and reign. Throughout this novel, Frederick Douglass tells his personal story and then often comments on how slavery worked and why it is wrong. His stories show that slaves are so ignorant and controlled by their masters that they are accustomed to be treated like property and not like an actual human being. They are whipped at times for no absolute reason. “He was a cruel

Douglass had a distant relationship with his father and so did Tatiana in her short story “Dear Daddy”. Douglass knows that his father is a white male, though a lot of folks say that his master was his father. Douglass explains that such mixed‑race slaves have a worse lot than other slaves, as the slaveholder’s wife, insulted by their existence, ensures that they either suffer constantly or are sold off. This made it very difficult for him to have a close relationship with his father. “My home was charmless; it was not home to me; on parting from it, I could not feel that I was leaving any thing which I could have enjoyed by staying”. He didn't have a mother nor a proper

Exposition – The story begins by Frederick Douglass being born in TalbotCounty, Maryland sometime around 1817 or 1818. He doesn’t know the exact date because slaves are not told their exact date of birth. This was a source of his unhappiness during his child hood. Douglass’s mother is known to be Harriet Bailey; he was separated from his mother while he was very young. Slave owners used this practice to break the natural bond between a mother and son. He recalls few memories about his mother during his childhood. She died while he was seven and was unaffected by her death. Douglass’s master, Captain Anthony, is believed by many to also be his father. Captain Anthony is described as a cruel man, Douglass described the time when he saw his Aunt Hester get whipped by Captain Anthony. That was the first time Douglass realized what slavery really was and he felt some type of way afterwards.

The narrative demonstrates that Douglass and other slaves’ birth information are not available to them. In addition, when he was about seven years old, his mother dies. Believing that his father is a white man, Douglass explains that many slaveholders rape their female slaves because according to the law, if a child has a colored mother, he/she would be a slave. Therefore, the master benefits from raping due to the number of slaves increasing. From an early age, Douglass observes the fear of slaves towards their masters/mistresses of telling the truth about how they are treated. If the slaves tell the truth, they are punished by their masters