Frederick Douglass' Words Caught the Attention of Many - Including Slave Owners

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Different types of literature have been part of America since the 1630’s and the varieties of literature still exist to this day. Frederick Douglass’s work and speeches during his lifetime caught the attention of many people in the United States, including slave owners themselves. Douglass has not only changed American literature, he has also inspired many other writers and speakers to seek freedom of expression for themselves. Even though he had a rough childhood because he was a slave, Douglass found ways to make the most of it. Fortunately it was because he had a nice and caring owner who taught him to read and write. Furthermore, because he had a warmhearted owner, he was able to express himself through his work to many different people of his time. Douglass’s works and speeches remain of great impact, and continue to influence and inspire many people in literature to this day. He influenced many people during his travels to Northern free states and overseas to England and Ireland where he explained and changed their mindset of the cruelty of slavery, which ultimately lead to the adjustment by the people to understand the reality of slavery. Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born on February of 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland to Harriet Bailey. Even though his single mother raised him, his biological father is believed to be one of his mother’s previous owners. In his family, he has five siblings: Eliza, Perry, Arianna, Kitty and Sarah, Frederick Bailey was raised under the belief that all people were created equality and should be treated the same (The Literature Network). Although he was a slave for most of his childhood, he was luckily benefitted with a thoughtful owner that taught him how to read and write at the age... ... middle of paper ... ... slave and the cruelty of it. It’s important to literature because if the reader didn’t have the perspective of an actual slave, nobody would no what slavery actually did. Literature is written in many ways and styles. During his time, Frederick Douglass’s works and speeches attracted many people’s attention. With the amount of works and speeches Douglass has given, it has influenced many others writers to express themselves more freely. Though Douglass lived a rigorous childhood, he still made it the best that he could, with the guidance and teaching of one of his slave owner’s wife he was able to read and write, thus allowing him to share his life stories and experiences. Douglass’s work today still remain of great impact and influence, allowing us to understand the reality of slavery, and thus inspiring many others to come out and share for others to understand.

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