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Narrative of the life of frederick douglass analysis
Narrative of the life of frederick douglass analysis
Critiques of frederick douglass
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When people choose to follow a religion they agree to practice the tenets and standards put forth by that religion. If a person is a practicing Christian they would need to follow the teachings of love and kindness that are given forth by Jesus Christ. Frederick Douglass in his work, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, and William Apess in his work, "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man" both disagree with the form of Christianity practiced and preached by their white oppressors. Although Douglass and Apess are from different cultural backgrounds, both men's works share the theme of the white mans perversion of the Christian religion.
In his work, Frederick Douglass speaks of two kinds of Christianity: the "Christianity of the land" and the "Christianity of Christ" (2093). The `Christianity of the land' is the religion that the southern slave holders practice. They use the peace-teaching Christian religion to justify their right of ownership and their inhumane treatment of slaves. One example of justification can be found early in the Narrative. Douglass states that one way the slave owners justify their actions is with the misconception that the blacks are the descendants of Ham who have been cursed by God. If God has cursed these peoples then he would wholly approve of their being held in bondage by "better" men. This reason will soon be obsolete, states Douglass, because of the number of slave children who "owe their existence to white fathers" (2041). With the mulatto population on the rise, slaveholders are no longer oppressing those cursed by God, but those of their own kind who, by the white man's standards, are the chosen peoples of God.
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...oth Frederick Douglass and William Apess share many of the same qualms with the form of Christianity that is being practiced by those "above" them. This can truly be understood if one knows anything about the teachings of the Christian religion. It preaches love, forgiveness, and kindness to your fellow man. The actions of the slave holders in the South and the Indian oppressors in the North are a direct contradiction to the teachings of the religion they "piously" follow. Both authors show that the whites' actions and deeds are mere "face" paying to a God it seems they don't even respect. Douglass and Apess have seen the hypocrisy in the practiced religion and brought it to the attention of thousands. Both men have decided to practice what it written in the Bible as opposed to what is being preached in the pulpit and encourage all to follow their actions.
During a period of time, the world lost its values due to ambition. Blacks were enslaved for being different. Races became a huge part of people’s everyday talk and to succeed, farmers and business owners had to make African Americans do their dirty work for them. During this period of time, people like Joe Starks from “The Eyes Were Watching God” and people like Frederick Douglass’s slavemasters became abundant in the world. The belief that they were superior to everyone else lead them to impose power in a way that even themselves could not tolerate. Even though “The Eyes Were Watching God” was written after slave abolition, Joe Starks and Douglass’s slavemasters have many characteristics in common and differences which are worthy to be noticed.
The people feel as though both the authors are a threat to society. Douglass was judged because he was not white and he was a slave he was stripped of his rights because how he appeared to everyone around him. In the passage Douglass mentions “From this time I was most narrowly watched. If I was in a separate room any considerable length of time, I was sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at once called to give a bank account of myself” (144). Douglass came to conclusions that there was nothing he can do to change what the ones around him think of him and that he would always have restrictions such as not being allowed to read.
The Life of Fredrick Douglass shows how slavery could of not only affected the slaves but the owners as well. Thomas Auld was overall a cowardly owner and quite tough compared to other slaveholders. Douglass believed that since Auld obtained slave owning from marriage, it made him more of an unpleasant master because he wasn’t used to being around slavery and having so much power. Fredrick Douglass also was convinced that religious slaveholders were false Christians because they became more self-righteous and thought that God gave them the power to hold slaves. By telling stories to the reader, Douglass hoped to bring awareness to the harsh subject of slavery and show how the slaves kept hope during these miserable times.
William Apes, in his essay "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man," argues that to profess Christianity and still distinguish between races is a hypocrisy not supported by the Bible. In the first part of his essay Apes asks several questions such as why, if God loves white people so much, did he create fifteen colored people for every white one; and of all the races, who has committed the most heinous crimes? He goes on to emphasize that neither Jesus nor his disciples were white skinned. He also questions the white person's right to control Native Americans. Apes asks his predominately white, Christian audience to reexamine their own prejudices and concludes his essay pleading "pray you not stop till this tree of distinction shall be leveled to the earth, and the mantle of prejudice torn from every American heart--then peace shall pervade the Union."
Douglass is telling us that until we go out and get our own understanding, we will always be blind to what’s right in front of us. He is saying we can do all the praying we want for change, but until you help ourselves God won’t help you. I don’t think he found a new faith, but I do know he did find knowledge. What the slave masters were telling the slaves wasn’t a lie, but it was written for different time, the bible was always meant to be transcribed and interpreted.
Because it offers them the possibility of community and identity, many slaves find themselves strongly attached to religion. They cannot build a family structure and they cannot be identified by family name, but through the church, they can build a community and identify themselves as Christians. This comfort becomes virtually non-existent for it too is controlled by the slaveowners who “came to the conclusion that it would be well to give the slaves enough of religious instruction to keep them from murdering their masters” (57). The fact that one person could have the ability to control the amount of religion another person has and his purpose for having it diminishes any sense of community or identity that it may have initially provided.
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.
... “Prior to [Captain Auld’s] conversion, he relied upon his own depravity to shield and sustain him in his savage barbarity; but after his conversion, he found religious sanction and support for the slaveholding cruelty” (Douglass 883). This means that slaveholders use Christianity as a tool to show that they are good at heart and are doing God’s work, but they use it as a divine right to brutally beat slaves. This is what Frederick wants other abolitionists to recognize, especially the abolitionist women.
Douglass moves to attack the Christian beliefs of the American people, showing the great discrepancies between the ideals held in the Christian faith and the ideals held by slaveowners. Christians avoidance of abolishing slavery, yet worshipping a loving and peaceful God, may be the worse crime of them all. Douglass explains the hypocrisy of the American people by choosing to continue slavery while claiming the benevolent principles embedded in the Bible. At the moment he gives this speech, “they are thanking God for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, yet they are utterly silent in respect to a law which robs religion of its chief significance” (Douglass 12). The American people acknowledge and thank God for their freedoms, yet purposefully
Cotton Mather and John Woolman were two men who had very passionate ideas for the slaves. “Negro Christianized” written by Cotton Mather was an appeal to the slave owners to convert their slaves to Christianity. He primarily focuses on the idea that slaveholders should treat the slaves with dignity and respect along with converting them to Christianity. In John Woolman’s work “Some Considerations On Keeping of Negroes,” he talks about how slavery was detrimental to the slaves and the slave holder. He illustrated through his own conduct the principles of compassion and good will that formed the central message of his itinerant ministry.
In his narrative, Frederick Douglass shows how Christianity was used as a major justification for slavery and for the actions of slave masters, but he also shows how the religion provided hope for slaves themselves. In an appendix added at the end of the narrative, he draws a distinction between “the Christianity of this land” and “the Christianity of Christ,” saying that there is the “widest possible difference” between them. As he puts it, “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.” In other words, Douglass thinks that Christianity has been corrupted in America, where people hypocritically use it to justify their injustices.
Slave-owners forced a perverse form of Christianity, one that condoned slavery, upon slaves. According to this false Christianity the enslavement of “black Africans is justified because they are the descendants of Ham, one of Noah's sons; in one Biblical story, Noah cursed Ham's descendants to be slaves” (Tolson 272). Slavery was further validated by the numerous examples of it within the bible. It was reasoned that these examples were confirmation that God condoned slavery. Douglass’s master...
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.
In his essay An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man, William Apess talks about the incompatibility of being a good Christian while still discriminating between races. He argues that this social hypocrisy is not supported by the Biblical text, or by Christian teachings. It is Apess’ belief that if God were to love white people as much as they believe, he wouldn’t have created fifteen colored people for every white one. He goes on to remind his white Christian audience, that it has been the white race the one who has committed the most terrible crimes in the history of mankind. Apess places emphasis on the fact the neither Jesus nor any of his apostles or disciples were white skinned. He also argues the right of the white man to control and subjugate the other races, more
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