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The Like Minds of Emerson and Douglass
Few, if any, writers of the American Renaissance period had as great an influence on contemporaries as did Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was insistent that America put its mark on the literary world with its own, genuine American literature, and he launched the movement with his own works (Bode 574). Frederick Douglass was a slave of the American south when Emerson was starting out and moving up in his profession. Eventually, Douglass became Emersonâs fellow writer and lecturer. Douglass was present and was asked to speak for the Womenâs Anti-Slavery Society in August 1844, in Concord, where Emerson was the keynote speaker. The two men shared common ideas, as we shall see as the literary works and lives of the two men are examined. To some extent Emerson had an influence on Douglassâs expressed views, but on the other hand, some of Douglassâs views were a product of his own natural inclination.
Emerson believed that the human spirit could be relied on to lift man up to overcome any tribulation that might be encountered (Bode 574). Douglass inadvertantly proved Emerson right when he lifted himself out of the dehumanizing bondage of slavery through his sheer will of human spirit. Douglass went on to become a hero of the slave movement after he gained his freedom.
Emerson "believed in a reality and a knowledge that transcended the everyday reality·" He also felt strongly that individuals should trust fully in the integrity of self (Bode 573). There is a correspondence between this "self-made" man of Emersonâs and Frederick Douglass. During the course of Douglassâs career, his actions and words epitomized Emersonian ideas.
The issue of abolishment of slavery d...
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...ce, exemplary character, and social inspiration" (Martin 263).
Works Cited
Belasco, Susan. Harriet Martineauâs Black Hero and the American Antislavery Movement. Nineteenth-Century Literature, Vol II. University of California Press, 2000. 1-23.
Bode, Carl. Emerson. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography Vol III. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 1973. 572-574.
Frederick Douglass 1818-1895. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton, 1998. 1578-1690.
Martin, Waldo E., Jr. The Mind of Frederick Douglass. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985.
Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton, 1998. 1578-1690.
Rowe, John Carlos. At Emersonâs Tomb: The Politics of Classic American Literature. New York: Columbia UP, 1997.
Frederick Douglass.” Journal of Narrative Technique 16.1 (Winter 1986): 55-71. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Russel Whitaker. Vol. 141. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
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.
Back in the early 90’s I had been drumming in a nowhere rock band when I met and befriended David Koresh. I needed some new drum sticks, and on the way to a gig stopped in at a local music shop. Seeing the sticks in my hand the two strangers introduced themselves and asked if I was playing in a band right now. The two were David Koresh and his right man Steve Schneider. They gave their card and I promptly handed it back. The backside was full of Bible verses. “You guys are a Christian rock band,” and I really don’t get into the whole god thing, really never have. Which was true, I had never been religious in my life, and though I sometimes found myself asking God for a little, I couldn’t remember the last time I had been in a church, let alone seriously prayed. But I did have a spiritual curiosity; there were questions I had and answers that I wanted to know. Neither of them tried to push me into coming and praying with mainly they were looking for some one to beat the skins so that they could jam. Since my band was in the dumps I took back his card and said that I would call him.
*Frederick Douglass, "Narrative of the Life Of Frederick Douglass," in The Classic Slave Narratives, ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1987)
Douglass, Frederick. “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987.
Both Emerson and Douglass had a huge impact on those who read their work. Their messages were both similar and different in their own ways. Emerson pushed the idea of unification with God through the soul while Douglass stood behind the development of the mind with the ability to read. However, both Emerson and Douglass
Works Cited Douglass, Frederick. A. A. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
middle of paper ... ... Douglass, Frederick. A. A. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Atlanta: Kessinger Publishing, 2008. 8.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: New American Library, 1987. 243-331.
...t to their audience. They both had resemblance and difference in various aspects of social and individual beliefs and style relating to that time. Although both Emerson and Douglass spoke on behalf of individuality, Emerson believed in the idea of connecting with God from soul whereas Douglass stood up for the self-identity, development of personal goal and equality for the betterment of society. According to Buccola, Douglass believed that a men has to be self-reliant to have individual initiative within. “Rather than seeing self-reliance and interconnection as antagonistic, he saw them as closely related.”(Buccola, 168). Both Emerson and Douglass shared a common view on the approach to abolish slavery and it was that men should first understand themselves and they should have personal initiative for betterment of society by standing out from the bad norms within.
Benjamin Franklin and Ralph Waldo Emerson want people to realize and develop potential within them. Even though both Franklin and Emerson advocate the notion of self-realization, they come up with different ideas about success, and have various attitudes toward people who are not successful in their perspectives.
Works Cited “American Literature 1865-1914.” Baym 1271. Baym, Nina et al. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.
By now you have probably heard of the gender pay gap, but what does it really mean? And what exactly does gender bias have to do with paychecks? Women are not given the same amount on their paycheck as their counter male parts. Equal work between men and women does not mean equal pay. It is clear that in history, women have never been paid equally to men. Because we live in a broken society, women receive a smaller pay than men for the same work. This is unfair and sexist. Women should receive just as much as men do for equal work. Although it may seem as though women do not work as hard or can not become leaders, that is not the case. Women can and should play roles in leadership and sexist stereotypes need to vanish in order for women to
Belasco, Susan, and Linck Johnson, eds. The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 1, 2nd Ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 1190-1203. Print.
One and three girls in the united states uses birth control, but some parents think teen girls shouldn’t have access to birth control. Three percent of young girls (ages fifteen to nineteen) have a child every year, having access would help bring the percentage down even more. Birth and Abortion rates are very very high in most states in the United States, and surrounding countries such as Western Europe, Japan, etc.. Teens should have access to birth control because it helps prevent teen pregnancy, helps teen girls with painful periods and mood swings, and helps with the thought of abstinence.