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A report about fredrick douglass
A report about fredrick douglass
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Fred Douglass was a slave who escaped at the age of twenty. After his escape he named himself Sir Walter Scott after The Lady of The Lake. He wrote autobiographies that made great contributions to American culture. Later told speeches against slavery and racism which brought hope to many people. During his life he tried to fight the Jim Crow law and lynching in the 1890s. Then in the 1850s he help support the women’s rights movement and gave assistance to John Brown’s conspiracy. Douglass actually welcomed the Civil War as he thought it showed a moral crusade against slavery. During this time he was played as the protagonist of the Union cause and emancipation. However his hopes were dashed away during the reconstruction and Gilded age
In the end, Frederick Douglass was a very successful and smart African American. Infact of him being a slave back then. Most slaves couldn’t receive education due to slavery and racism.
Even though Lincoln only wanted to contain slavery the Union and prevent it from expanding, Douglass decided to support the Union considering it was the lesser evil of the parties. As a supporter of the Union, he was able to convince Lincoln to allow African-Americans, slave and free, to fight in the war and end slavery. After the civil war ended and the 13th amendment were ratified, slavery was abolished. However, Douglass did not stop once he saw that slavery was abolished. Even though black men and women were now free, they continued to suffer discrimination and oppression. Douglass continued to work for the rights of black men and women who suffered discrimination as the 14th and 15th amendments were ratified. After the war he had become one of the most prominent and respected black leaders. He moved to Washington D.C., and was appointed for different government positions such as marshal of Washington, D.C. and minister to Haiti. Through his influence in these positions he continued to work for the civil rights of the free men and women.
Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist who altered America's views of slavery through his writings and actions. Frederick's life as a slave had the greatest impact on his writings. Through his experience as a slave, he developed emotion and experience for him to become a successful abolitionist writer. He experienced harsh treatment and his hate for slavery and desire to be free caused him to write Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his Narrative, he wrote the story of his miserable life as a slave and his fight to be free. His motivation behind the character (himself) was to make it through another day so that maybe one day he might be free. By speaking out, fighting as an abolitionist and finally becoming an author, Douglass's transformation from a slave into a man.
During Frederick Douglass lifetime he had a big impact on the society, which still can be understood today by looking at how the society developed during his lifetime, and even after his death. The main significance that Douglass did was through his great oral skills, which he used both as a politician, and as a lecturer. Already when Douglass was thirty-three years old he was a part of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society (MASS). Up till 1847, which was, the year when he turned twenty-nine he was one of the most well known persons in the organization. (Fanuzzi, pg. 55) The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society was an organization that was started by William Lloyd Garrison, as can be understood through the name the organization was against slavery.
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the inhumane effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. His use of vivid language depicts violence against slaves, his personal insights into the dynamics between slaves and slaveholders, and his naming of specific persons and places made his book an indictment against a society that continued to accept slavery as a social and economic institution. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1853 she published Letter from a Fugitive Slave, now recognized as one of the most comprehensive antebellum slave narratives written by an African-American woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves.
Frederick Douglass defined his manhood through his education and his freedom. As a slave he realized "the white man's power to enslave the black man".*(Narrative 273) That power was through mental and physical enslavement. Douglass knew that becoming literate would be "the pathway from slavery to freedom".*(275) His education would give him the mental freedom to then gain physical freedom. He became literate by bribing and befriending the neighborhood boys that lived around him. Every chance Douglass had, he would find another way to gain more knowledge to learn to read.
The title of the book for my report is Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, by himself. Its genre is autobiography, and it was first published in 1881 and later revised in 1893. The tone of the novel is contemplative and reflective. He talks about his thoughts on his circumstances and the actions of others constantly and often explains why things were as they were, such as the white children he was friends with as a child not agreeing with slavery. The book tells about his life, including his first realizations of slavery, his experiences and hardships growing up as a slave, his religious enlightenment, his escape from slavery, and his rise to the top as an influential voice for blacks in America. His style includes formal language and going into detail on his reflections.
Frederick Douglass was one of the foremost leaders of the abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery within the United States in the decades prior to the Civil War. A brilliant speaker, Douglass was asked by the American Anti-Slavery Society to engage in a tour of lectures, and so became recognized as one of America's first great black speakers. He won world fame when his autobiography was publicized in 1845. Two years later he bagan publishing an antislavery paper called the North Star. Douglass served as an adviser to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and fought for the adoption of constitutional amendments that guaranteed voting rights and other civil liberties for blacks. Douglass provided a powerful voice for human rights during this period of American history and is still revered today for his contributions against racial injustice. The Slave Years Frederick Baily was born a slave in February 1818 on Holmes Hill Farm, near the town of Easton on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The farm was part of an estate owned by Aaron Anthony, who also managed the plantations of Edward Lloyd V, one of the wealthiest men in Maryland. The main Lloyd Plantation was near the eastern side of Chesapeake Bay, 12 miles from Holmes Hill Farm, in a home Anthony had built near the Lloyd mansion, was where Frederick's first master lived. Frederick's mother, Harriet Baily, worked the cornfields surrounding Holmes Hill. He knew little of his father except that the man was white. As a child, he had heard rumors that the master, Aaron Anthony, had sired him. Because Harriet Baily was required to work long hours in the fields, Frederick had been sent to live with his grandmother, Betsey Baily. Betsy Baily lived in a cabin a short distance from Holmes Hill Farm. Her job was to look after Harriet's children until they were old enough to work. Frederick's mother visited him when she could, but he had only a hazy memory of her. He spent his childhood playing in the woods near his grandmother's cabin. He did not think of himself as a slave during these years. Only gradually did Frederick learn about a person his grandmother would refer to as Old Master and when she spoke of Old Master it was with certain fear.
In the passage of the Narrative of Fredrick Douglass, the author masterfully conveys two complimentary tones of liberation and fear. The tones transition by the use of diction and detail. The passage is written entirely in first person, since we are witnessing the struggles of Fredrick Douglass through his eyes. Through his diction, we are able to feel the triumph that comes with freedom along with the hardships. Similarly, detail brings a picturesque view of his adversities. Since the point of view is first person, the reader is able to be a part of the Douglass’ struggles with his new freedom. With diction, detail, and point of view, the reader is able to get a rare glimpse into the past of Fredrick Douglass.Fredrick Douglass’ diction is powerful as he describes his life as a slave and with his new freedom. Fredrick Douglass calls being enslaved an act of “wretchedness,” yet he was able to remain “firm” and eventually left the “chains” of slavery. Fredrick Douglass expresses that being enslaved is a wretched act and that no man should ever deserve such treatment. Despite being a slave, he kept strong and eventually broke the chain of society. However, Fredrick Douglass experienced great “insecurity” and “loneliness” with his new freedom, and was upon a new “hunting-ground.” His new freedom brought other devastating factors, being a new state without any friends, which caused his loneliness. In this new state, he grew insecure for he was in a new danger zone where at any time his freedom could be rejected. With new freedom come new obstacles, which are described in the diction of Fredrick Douglass.
Frederick Douglass once said, "there can be no freedom without education." I believe this statement is true. During slavery, slaves were kept illiterate so they would not rebel and become free. Many slaves were stripped from their families at an early age so they would have no sense of compassion towards family members. Some slaves escaped the brutal and harsh life of slavery, most who were uneducated. But can there be any real freedom without education?
The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass gives a first person perspective on the life of a slave in the rural south and the city. Frederick Douglass was able to read and think about the evils of slavery and the reasons for its abolishment. Throughout his autobiography Frederick Douglass talks of the many ways a slave and master would be corrupted by the labor system. The master justified his actions through a self-serving religion and a conscience belief that slaves were meant to be in their place. Frederick Douglass noticed that in order to maintain the slaves belief in this system the master had to resort to trickery of a slaves body and mind.
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 Frederick Douglass' autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, he writes about the inhumanity and brutality of slavery, with the intention of informing white, American colonists. Douglass is thought to be one of the greatest leaders of the abolition, which radically and dramatically changed the American way of life, thus revolutionizing America. Douglass changed America, and accomplished this through writing simply and to the point about the "reality" of slavery, told through the point of view of a slave. In a preface of Douglass' autobiography, William Lloyd Garrison writes, "I am confident that it is essentially true in all its statements; that nothing has been set down in malice, nothing exaggerated, nothing drawn from the imagination; that it comes short of reality, rather than overstates a single fact in regard to slavery as it is" (Douglass, 6). This statement authenticates and guarantees Douglass' words being nothing but the truth.
Slavery was abundant in the cities of the South, as well as the countryside. The roles of urban slaves varied greatly from plantation slaves. Frederick Douglass’ move to the city was the turning point in his life and without his move to the city, Fredrick Douglass would not have been the famous abolitionist and writer we know of today. Urban slaves typically partook in household, artisan or factory positions, while slaves from the plantation generally were out in the fields or doing some other agricultural work. Because Baltimore was a port city, during his time living there, Douglass had the opportunity of learning and working the trade of ship caulking, which is a type of artisan work. Urban slavery provided, most of the time, an easier life for a slave. Generally, a slave from the city would be better clothed, fed, and would avoid most of the physical abuse suffered by the rural slave. When Douglass lived as a slave in Baltimore, he was always well fed and clothed. Urban slavery also offered more opportunities to escape.due to the white abolitionists and free blacks that were there to help slaves escape to freedom. Douglass was able to successfully with the help of kind whites escape the shackles of freedom and go to the North. Frederick's life in the city shaped him into the powerful speaker and writer we know today.
The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass can be referred to as a memoir and writing about the abolitionist movement of the life of a former slave, Fredrick Douglass. It is a highly regarded as the most famous piece of writing done by a former slave. Fredrick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer, statesman, orator and writer in the United States. Douglass believed in the equality of every individual of different races, gender or immigrants.