Throughout American literature, as settlers faced opposition and challenging circumstances starting in the 1400s, many writers referenced divine providence as the main determinant of their success. This belief has continued into the writings of former slaves from the 1700s and 1800s. The influence of God’s protective care and spiritual power can be examined in Phillis Wheatley’s poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” and Frederick Douglass’s memoir, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Although these literary works take different approaches toward explaining the role of providence in their lives, both reference the influence of God throughout their turmoil, while shedding light on the hypocrisy of American …show more content…
After being kidnapped at age seven and taken to America on a ship, where one in four enslaved Africans died on the journey, to be sold into slavery, many would expect this experience to foster a sense of despair within Wheatley (Carretta). On the contrary, this journey, which inspired the title of her poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Wheatley sheds light on the benefits of her situation. While it is remarkable for Wheatley to come out of her devastating childhood with a strong relationship in God and a thankful heart, it is important to recognize Wheatley’s unique slavery experience. Wheatley’s owners gave her the opportunity to learn to read, write, and pursue poetry, all aspects of learning typically prohibited to slaves (Carretta). Perhaps this knowledge helped Wheatley find the good in God’s influence over her life because of the opportunities granted to her in America. If she had faced harsher treatment, her praise of divine providence might not shine as bright throughout her …show more content…
J. Kameron Carter explains in his narrative “Race, religion, and the contradictions of identity: a theological engagement with Douglass’s 1845 narrative, “Douglass’s central, explicit aim in the Narrative is to tell the story of his life as a movement from bondage to freedom, from property to prophet, from chattel to abolitionist spokesman and public intellectual” (Carter 37) and how divine providence led to this transformation. By traveling to Baltimore, Douglass believes this movement was the first of many acts of providence in his life that led to his desire for freedom and
Although two different authors wrote these works of literature, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson and From Africa to America, both stories possessed similar and different elements of writing. These tales were worthy of comparing because they had various things to review, contrast, and realize, such as the worship they had or didn’t have for God, their experiences, and their styles. Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano were remarkable writers whose works will always be a part of America’s history for the various styles and purposes they had to share with their readers.
Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1750, and was captured when she was 7. John Wheatley purchased Phillis for his wife, Susanna; together they taught Phillis how to read and write, and as early as 12, Phillis was writing poetry and her first poem had been published. Wheatley’s poems implicitly advocated for racial equality, while condemning slavery. Her work received some negative feedback from political figureheads, such as Thomas Jefferson. White America classified a human as having the ability to read, write, and reason; therefore, leaving no room for the uneducated Africans, seeing Africans as nonhuman. Jefferson claimed Wheatley’s work was not literature because the moment he admitted Wheatley’s work was indeed literature, he would have had to admit she was a human being. The way Phillis Wheatley handled the adversity she faced is admirable. Wheatley definitely impacted American history, and “owes her place in history to advocates of inequality” (Young 1999
Throughout the poem, “To the University of Cambridge, in New England”, Phyllis Wheatley suggest that she accepted the colonial idea of slavery, by first describing her captivity, even though this poem has a subversive double meaning that has sent an anti-slavery message. Wheatley’s choice of words indicates that her directed audience was educated at a sophisticated level because of the language chosen. Her audience was assumingly also familiar with the bible because of the religious references used. The bible was used as a reference because of its accessibility. Wheatley uses religious references to subversively warn her readers about slavery and its repercussions and to challenge her reader’s morals.
The novel Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, published in 1845, provides Americans with a firsthand look into slavery prior to the Civil War. Douglass, born a slave early into the nineteenth century, encounters and survives the task of living as a slave. Within the ninth chapter of his life, an argument arises that claims Southern Christianity differs immensely from its Northern counterpart. A majority of Christians in non-slaveholding states at the time believed that Christian slaveholders were kinder after they converted, Douglass worked to invalidate this claim. In chapter nine, the ingenious use of dispassionate tone and allusion throughout the passages support the claim that a simple conversion to Christianity only gives justification to cruel southern slaveholders.
Douglass’ explains his view of religion as “When I think that these precious souls are to-day shut up in the prison-house of slavery, my feelings overcome me, and I am almost ready to ask, “Does a righteous God govern the universe? And for what does he hold the thunders in his right hand, if not to smite the oppressor, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the spoiler? (p.48).” He wonders how a righteous God can rule the universe, and yet still allow cruel things like slavery to exist. One of the ways Douglass shows himself to be a Christian, is by quoting the Bible, “Dark and terrible as is this picture, I hold it to be s...
On Being Brought to America is a personal poem by Phillis Wheatley that talks about her experiences with being brought over to America from Africa. In the poem she contemplates her voyage on whether it was a good or bad thing. In this poem she discussing her homeland, and also being converted to Christianity while being brought here. The purpose of this essay is to conduct a rhetorical analysis on Phyllis Wheatleys’ On Being Brought to America in regards to the pagan land, Christianity, salvation, the pros and cons on being brought to America from Africa, and feminism.
It can be argued that Phillis Wheatley has undoubtedly made significant contributions to literature on a grand scale. At the time that she began to showcase her talent for versifying poems, she was faced with the enslavement of her race. It can be argued to what extent someone is being held in slavery actually enslaved. It was inconceivable that a black slave female could achieve such a level of intellect that she was asked to verify that she actually did write her poems. Wheatley’s works have been critical in contrasting the assumption that African Americans were of inferior intellect. She was also criticized for not having her works make direct references to the abolition of slavery, and taking a more radical approach to addressing the institution. Wheatley, in her own right, did not need to take a radical approach to emphasize an anti-slavery message in her works. Through an analysis of the historical context of her poems we begin to see the consistencies and themes in her writing style, which helps readers to identify with the author. We can also identify with her use of religious inferences, classical citations, and unique use of language as instruments that not only highlight her heritage but provide a form of motivation in African American writers. This subtly sets the framework for an anti-slavery movement in her own distinctive way. Her works help to highlight how she is able to combine personal experiences and literary devices to establish her voice. Wheatley utilizes her poetry as an outlet to expose human frailty, and express her belief of racial and religious equivalence. Wheatley’s literature was essential in furthering the abolitionist movement. The goal and purpose of this movement was basically to put an end t...
Douglass wrote three biographies about his life as a politician, slave, and abolitionist. However, the historical value of these works does not remain as important as the quality of the works themselves. Frederick Douglass’ writing deserves recognition in the canon of great American authors, because his work meets the chosen criteria for inclusion in a collection of important literature. Douglass influenced many famous abolitionists with his literary works, and this impact, coupled with his desire to write an expose about oppression in America, makes him a winning candidate. Although his published works, mostly autobiographies, received much acclaim from abolitionists, this paper explores the quality of Douglass’s work from a literary standpoint. This paper also details the events shaping Douglass’s impressive life and writing career. By examining the prestigious “life and times” of this black author, the reader will recognize the widespread influence of Douglass’s writing on other antislavery writers, politics, and hence, the public. In a look at his first and greatest work, Narrative of the Life, the following paper will demonstrate why Frederick Douglass deserves a place in the hall of great American writers. To fully appreciate the impact of Douglass’s autobiographies, we must examine violent period in which he lived. Douglass, born in 1818, grew up as a slave on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation in eastern Maryland. At the time, abolitionist movements started gaining speed as popular parties in the North. In the North, pro-slavery white mobs attacked black communities in retaliation for their efforts. By the time Douglass escaped from slavery, in 1838, tensions ran high among abolitionists and slaveowners. Slaves published accounts of their harrowing escapes, and their lives in slavery, mainly with the help of ghostwriters. Although abolitionists called for the total elimination of slavery in the South, racial segregation still occurred all over the United States. Blacks, freemen especially, found the task of finding a decent job overwhelming.
As both the narrator and author of “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself” Frederick Douglass writes about his transition from a slave to a well educated and empowered colored young man. As a skilled and spirited man, he served as both an orator and writer for the abolitionist movement, which was a movement to the abolishment of slavery. At the time of his narrative’s publication, Douglass’s sole goal of his writings was to essentially prove to those in disbelief that an articulate and intelligent man, such as himself, could have,in fact, been enslaved at one point in time. While, Douglass’ narrative was and arguably still is very influential, there are some controversial aspects of of this piece, of which Deborah McDowell mentions in her criticism.
Douglass spends most of the first five chapters giving the reader his background from birth. He explains the beginning of his sad life, hardships he has seen and endured on the plantation. Then when he was about 7 or 8 Douglass set sail to Baltimore This is the first time Douglass uses a reference to God. He says” that the transfer to Baltimore is a gift of providence” (Douglass). If he had not been
The poetry of Phillis Wheatley is crafted in such a manner that she is able to create a specific aim for each poem, and achieve that aim by manipulating her position as the speaker. As a slave, she was cautious to cross any lines with her proclamations, but was able to get her point across by humbling her own position. In religious or elegiac matters, however, she seemed to consider herself to be an authority. Two of her poems, the panegyric “To MAECENAS” and the elegy “On the Death of a young Lady of Five Years of Age,” display Wheatley’s general consistency in form, but also her intelligence, versatility, and ability to adapt her position in order to achieve her goals.
This excellent biography fluently tells the life story of Douglass; one of the 19th centuries's most famous writers and speakers on abolitionist and human rights causes. It traces his life from his birth as a slave in Maryland, through his self-education, escape to freedom, and subsequent lionization as a renowned orator in England and the United States. Fascinating, too, are accounts of the era's politics, such as the racist views held by some abolitionist leaders and the ways in which many policies made in post-Civil War times have worked to the detriment of today's civil rights movement. The chapter on Frederick Douglass and John Brown is, in itself, interesting enough to commend this powerful biography. The seldom-seen photographs, the careful chapter notes, documentation, and acknowledgements will encourage anybody to keep on learning about Frederick Douglass.
In the autobiography, Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass narrates his own life as a slave. He explains and talks about his tough experiences as a slave. Born on a plantation in Maryland he witnesses the abuse of his fellow slaves. As a slave, he saw many “christian slaveholders” who used Christianity as a justification of their actions. Douglass feels like these slaveholders are the worst. Douglass’s disdain for the hypocrisy of Christian slaveholders is shown through his use of tone, personification, and diction.
In Frederick Douglass’ Narrative, Christianity is a prominent feature of both slave and slave-owners’ lives. However, Douglass highlights the discrepancies between the religions of these two groups, finding the Christianity of slave holders to be false, malicious and hypocritical. Though he makes clear he is not irreligious himself, Douglass condemns the insincere ideology of slave owning America.
The clash between racial reality and idea is what is artistically shown in “on being brought from Africa to America”. Wheatley is a subtle rebel. At the beginning of her poem she shows thanks for being enslaved because it brought happiness to her life in finding Christianity, but as time goes by we start to see the true tone of Wheatley, which clearly show in the last two lines of the poem, now Wheatley begins to take a big position of power as if she already has the attention of the reader. Wheatley continues by saying that Africans may not be perfect but the Christians who enslave human beings aren’t