Frederick Douglass Transformation

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Recommended: Similarities and differences of Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass

On the other hand, Frederick Douglass had a complete different experience than Franklin when he was growing up. Frederick Douglass was born in Talbot County, Maryland. He didn’t know the exact date of the year he was born in. He states, “By far the largest part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant.” (Douglass 12) The comparison to an animal just shows how slaves were being treated. Douglass was separated from his mother, Harriet Bailey, since he was a baby; destroying any type of bond that should’ve been created. Around the age of 7, Douglass left Baltimore to go live with Mr. Hugh Auld. Before his departure, Douglass …show more content…

He was a believer that education was the key to success. Without knowledge, there was no way he would have achieve freedom. In the self-made speech, he says “their earnest desire for the fullest knowledge of human nature on all its many sides. The importance of this knowledge is immeasurable, and by no other is human life so affected and colored” (Douglass 1) Douglass want to improve his life and improve the lives of others of the same race. He had the honor of meeting with President Lincoln to talk about unequal pay and poor treatment of the slaves and other minorities. Douglass passed away after doing something he loved to do, which was to support an issue he believes …show more content…

Douglass was born a slave and wasn’t able to get any type of education due to his condition while Franklin was born poor and wasn’t able to get proper education. In a sense, they both achieve freedom; Douglass attained freedom from escaping from slavery at the same time Franklin attained freedom through rising from poverty. Both these men were in control of every aspect of their lives and didn’t let anyone get in their way. As a result, they both became successful. Through hard work and dedication, you can achieve anything your heart desire. Booker T Washington once said, “nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.”

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    His main argument in the speech is that it 's unjust and hypocritical for a country to celebrate its freedom while it still has slaves. Now that in itself is a morally viable argument, and it has never been more relevant than today in our racially hate fueled world where every situation is turned into a hate crime. However, back in those days majority of slaves were sold into slavery by their own people. Most slaves were sold by rival tribes as prisoners of war, or trouble makers of the tribe, thus giving us the “bottom of the barrel” of the groups. Another counter to Douglass was that even though slaves were people, they were still considered property. A hard working farmer could have used his last penny in order to purchase that slave because he was unable to tend his farm and provide for his family. One common misconception was that all slaves were beaten and treated lower than swine, while to the contrary some were treated well being given a bed and meals every day in exchange for their hard work. While Douglass may have had a bad time under the ownership of Auld, most northern states did not treat their slaves in this manner. This is one of the main reasons Douglass learned how to read, yet no credit is given to his former owner. Most slaves developed a relationship with their owners, in which their owners taught them useful skills such as reading, writing, simple math and farming skills. Another argument brought into Douglass’ speech was that most churches were segregated, and in turn perpetuated the racism that helped keep slavery alive in well. He proposed that a God that wouldn’t allow such evil and disservice in this world would contradict everything the bible proposes and teaches. He praises the writers of the constitution, considering them his equal and thanking the signers of the Declaration of Independence, calling

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