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Unchained Frederick Douglass was a gifted slave. Born with natural intelligence, he used this unique talent to accomplish something that is taken for granted today: being literate. This unique talent made it so that he could achieve his destiny at becoming an educated oral spokesman for the abolitionist movement. The journey towards this destiny was not solitary. He learned from others, sometimes without their knowledge. One of the earlier examples of this was when his Mistress taught him the alphabet. Tragically, she stopped teaching him due to the opposition of society and objection of her husband. However, he found other ways. Whenever he would run errands, he would take bread to later trade with the poor, white children in exchange for
Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts of escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman 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.
In February 1818, Frederick Douglass, America’s most famous civil rights leader was born into one of the country’s most appalling institutions, slavery. He visualized a diverse nation without discrimination and hate. Frederick became one of the most well-known writers, lecturers and abolitionists. Above all, Frederick Douglass was dedicated to obtaining freedom and justice for all Americans, especially African Americans.
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.
In this final research analysis, I will be doing a comparison between the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” and the “Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” to show how both Douglass and Rowlandson use a great deal of person strength and faith in God to endure their life and ultimately gain their freedom.
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe”( Douglass). This famous quote epitomizes the philosophies of Frederick Douglass, in which he wanted everyone to be treated with dignity; if everyone was not treated with equality, no one person or property would be safe harm. His experience as a house slave, field slave and ship builder gave him the knowledge to develop into a persuasive speaker and abolitionist. In his narrative, he makes key arguments to white abolitionist and Christians on why slavery should be abolished. The key arguments that Frederick Douglass tries to vindicate are that slavery denies slaves of their identity, slavery is also detrimental for the slave owner, and slavery is ungodly.
Frederick Douglass is well known for many of his literary achievements. He is best known, now, as a writer. "As a writer, Frederick Douglass shined. As a speaker, he was the best. There was no abolitionist, black or white, that was more for his speaking skills." (McFeely, 206)
“There are three keys to life, believe in yourself, take advantage of every opportunity and use the power of spoken and written language to effect positive change for yourself and society (IUPUI, N.P.)."Heard from the mouth of Frederick Douglass himself, he embraced these three “rules” which allowed his work to be superior from other authors of his time. Frederick could relate to the realist point of view because up until the age of 20 he was a slave, alone on a plantation. This period of literature began in 1860 and ended around 1910. Frederick was at the peak of his writing when this movement occurred, being only in his mid-forties; he was a fresh, energetic author who was not shy about expressing his opinion.
In the year 1826 Fredrick Douglass realized that he would eventually escape slavery. He would recount this thought four times in his life when he has to become most rebellious in order to survive slaveholders attempting to establish control and dominance in different ways. Each time one comes along Douglass responds using a different form of retaliation or rebellion to show his masters that they don’t own as much control over him as they think they do. All of these attempts to resist his masters control, slavery, and what slavery stood for were detrimental to Fredrick’s escape but the most influential one, the resistive act that started, and kept, the ball rolling was Fredrick’s determination to become literate. Knowledge is power and without his ability to read and write Douglass would have never escaped slavery or written a Narrative of his life.
Although slavery affected the United States as a whole, it particularly affected the South, where a majority of the whites were not ready to see slavery abolished. In his narrative, Frederick Douglass helps us understand the impacts of slavery, not only on the African American families, but also on the southern whites, the society as well as the relationships between the whites and African Americans in the southern society. For this paper, I will use Frederick's narrative to discuss how slavery affected the south in general.
In the 1860’s, the US was in the middle of the Civil War. North wanted to abolish slavery, but South was against it, and some people believed it was somehow the cause of the war. Frederick Douglass was one of the many people that was against slavery. He, in his 4th of July speech, discussed that slaves should be free and they should have equal rights and it was his goal to make his audience take action against the issue, making slaves free and equal. Another person that was considered against slavery was Abraham Lincoln. He freed the slaves, because he needed more men to reach his goal, which was peace among US. I will be discussing if Douglass and Lincoln could achieve what they wanted.
Frederick Douglass (1818-95) was a noticeable American abolitionist, creator and speaker. Conceived a slave, Douglass got away at age 20 and went ahead to wind up a widely acclaimed abolitionist bondage dissident. His three personal histories are viewed as imperative works of the slave account convention and also classics of American life account. Douglass' work as a reformer went from his abolitionist exercises in the mid 1840s to his assaults on Jim Crow and lynching in the 1890s.
Frederick Douglass was arguably the most impacting abolitionist in the time surrounding the civil war. This individual began as a mere slave who sought to learn and enhance himself towards a better future. He went through many brutal phases in which he would be beaten, along with many other slaves. This caused him to one day escape and become one of the most important abolitionist who helped to stop slavery. He was a true inspiration to all people, whether you were black or white. As the first black person to be a government official, Frederick Douglass’s background history truly enhanced how he became one of the primary leaders of the abolitionist movement.
What would it be like if we were a part of the slave years? To get an inside look of slavery we look through the eyes of a former slave Frederick Douglass. Through his experience of being grown into slavery in the south made him re-evaluate his life knowing he was worth more than being treated as someone else’s property. Not only was Douglass a part of the plantation system, city life, and brutal whipping but he was put into history as a great role model defining the true meaning of life. All people today should show respect to African Americans due to their struggle in reaching freedom and coming across difficulty.
Once Douglass broke the trap that held him captive, he became a more powerful person because his knowledge and courage to keep a positive attitude replaced a life of discouragement and sadness. He was able to think and find solutions to all the miseries in his life. He even purchased his freedom and was able to express himself by speaking and writing. The most powerful thing he did was continue to learn so he could defend himself and speak for others who were still suffering the way he did. Frederick Douglass’s ambition to escape the enslavement of negative thinking paid off for him. He became a free man who could clearly express the evils of slavery and improve the future of black slaves who were still suffering as much as he had suffered for many years.