Frederick Douglass Thesis

1499 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Narrative of the life of frederick douglas, an american slave

The Heroic Slave
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey (also known as the famous Frederick Douglass) was an intelligent African American slave in the 1800’s. Even though slavery was quite common during this time, Frederick stood out like a diamond in a pile of rocks. Unlike other slaves, he taught himself how to read and write on his free time, despite the fact that he could be severely punished. Most slaves thought this harsh labor was inhumane and cruel, yet did nothing about it. However Douglass took it as a life lesson and used it to fight for his freedom. After being held as a slave, Frederick’s world turned upside down. Slavery led him to become an passionate abolitionist, successful writer and an independent human being. Frederick Douglass’s abnormal life pushed him to educate himself and it also influenced his writing during this time period. This will be proved by examples from scholarly articles and the novel Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass.
Having a slave in 1818 was like having a new Prada bag in Beverly Hills, everyone had one. And like a new Prada bag first being taken out of the box (shiny and brand new, ready to be destroyed), Douglass was brought into this world. Frederick Douglass was born in Talbot County, Maryland. He grew up knowing that his biological mother was Harriet Bailey, but the identity of his father remained unknown. Slave owners did not bother to tell the slaves such things because they did not want their families to remain together, they rather them have no one. Douglass’s mother, Harriet Bailey, was forced to separate from her son who was an infant at the time. As a young boy, Douglass did not know his birth name; he went by the name Frederick. With that being said, Douglass was nev...

... middle of paper ...

... child. Writing and reading brought Douglass joy and remained to bring him joy even when deceased. Douglass’s insane life may have left him a few scars and terrible memories, but it also molded him in to the magnificent person he had become which was a successful writer, passionate abolitionists and a knowledgeable gentleman.
Fredrick Douglass lived a life of sorrow, pain and cruelty. Yet, as a fine gentleman that he was, he managed to find the joy in his childhood. He remembered the marvelous memories he encountered when he was taught how to read and write and that’s what kept him going. Writing changed his life for the better. It encouraged him to keep on doing what he loved even if he was constantly being put down and discouraged. The love for writing saved Douglass from slavery. Even if Douglass passed on, his writing remains and continues to be legendary.

Show More
Related

  • Frederick Douglass Research Paper

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    First of all, the early life of Frederick Douglass was horrible and very difficult. He was born on February 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland. 7 His parents were from two different races. His father was white while his mother was a African American. At that time period slave auctions were held to sell black slaves to white land owners. It was at a slave auction that as a child Frederick Douglass was separated from his Negro mother. His mother was sold and Douglass never saw an inch of her again in his entire life.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass: Escaping Slavery through Literacy

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

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

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Use of Rhetorical Devices in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Frederick Douglass

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    One day, Douglass eavesdrops on him and Mrs. Auld’s conversation. Mr. Auld persuades her that reading “could do him (Douglass) no good, but a great deal of harm.” (page 39) This antithesis along with the rest of his statement makes Douglass come to the realization that literacy is equated with not only individual consciousness but also freedom. From that day on, Douglass makes it his goal to learn as much as he can, eventually learning how to write,

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass In 'The Columbian Orator'

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frederick Douglass was a magnificent and clever learner. Learning is as much a skill as the things it is used to acquire, and Douglass was very skillful. As a boy Douglass was abused and punished for his scholarly interests, but he never lost his passion and drive to gain more knowledge. He engaged in clever tricks, games, and habits to increase his literacy. Douglass says at the beginning of his life his knowledge was a curse, and it seemed so, but I think that into his teens he realized what a powerful ally it could be. Then in his later life it became his strongest ally. Douglass’s opinion of knowledge changed from negative to positive due to his change in position.

    Read More

  • Fredrick Douglass

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist who altered America's views of slavery through his writings and actions. Frederick's life as a slave had the greatest impact on his writings. Through his experience as a slave, he developed emotion and experience for him to become a successful abolitionist writer. He experienced harsh treatment and his hate for slavery and desire to be free caused him to write Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his Narrative, he wrote the story of his miserable life as a slave and his fight to be free. His motivation behind the character (himself) was to make it through another day so that maybe one day he might be free. By speaking out, fighting as an abolitionist and finally becoming an author, Douglass's transformation from a slave into a man.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglas

    5504 Words  | 12 Pages

    Douglass wrote three biographies about his life as a politician, slave, and abolitionist. However, the historical value of these works does not remain as important as the quality of the works themselves. Frederick Douglass’ writing deserves recognition in the canon of great American authors, because his work meets the chosen criteria for inclusion in a collection of important literature. Douglass influenced many famous abolitionists with his literary works, and this impact, coupled with his desire to write an expose about oppression in America, makes him a winning candidate. Although his published works, mostly autobiographies, received much acclaim from abolitionists, this paper explores the quality of Douglass’s work from a literary standpoint. This paper also details the events shaping Douglass’s impressive life and writing career. By examining the prestigious “life and times” of this black author, the reader will recognize the widespread influence of Douglass’s writing on other antislavery writers, politics, and hence, the public. In a look at his first and greatest work, Narrative of the Life, the following paper will demonstrate why Frederick Douglass deserves a place in the hall of great American writers. To fully appreciate the impact of Douglass’s autobiographies, we must examine violent period in which he lived. Douglass, born in 1818, grew up as a slave on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation in eastern Maryland. At the time, abolitionist movements started gaining speed as popular parties in the North. In the North, pro-slavery white mobs attacked black communities in retaliation for their efforts. By the time Douglass escaped from slavery, in 1838, tensions ran high among abolitionists and slaveowners. Slaves published accounts of their harrowing escapes, and their lives in slavery, mainly with the help of ghostwriters. Although abolitionists called for the total elimination of slavery in the South, racial segregation still occurred all over the United States. Blacks, freemen especially, found the task of finding a decent job overwhelming.

    Read More

  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the world outside of slavery. In Douglass’ narrative the tone is first set as that of an observer, however finishing with his own personal accounts.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass and the Abolition of Slavery

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first reason why Frederick Douglass was a prominent abolitionist was because of his experiences in his life. He was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in 1817 in Tuckahoe, Maryland (“Douglass, Frederick”). He was born as a slave and was raised by his grandmother because his mother was sold when he was an infant, as was a common occurrence in the American South (“Frederick Douglass”). When he was old enough, Douglass was put to work by Edward Lloyd. This is when he experienced the hardships of slavery (“Frederick Douglass”). In 1825, he was transferred to the household of Hugh Auld (“Frederick Douglass”). He learned to read and write from Auld’s wife (“Frederick Douglass”). When Auld found out that his wife was educating Douglass, he put a stop to it. However, Douglass continued to read and write secretly (“Frederick Douglass”). In 1838, Douglass managed to escape to freedom in New York (“Frederick Douglass”). However, he was forced to move to Great Britain in 1845 because of Fugitive Slave laws (“Frederick Douglass”). He returned in 1847 (“Frederick Douglass”). He received enough money in Britain to publi...

    Read More

  • Deborah E. McDowell “In the First Place: Making Frederick Douglass and the Afro-American Narrative Tradition”

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass And Frederick Douglass Analysis

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass and Slavery

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    "He did this really well, because he made people understand the unknown, and made abolitionists out of many people. This man had a cause, as well as a story to tell" (Schomp, 25). Douglass, as a former slave, single-handedly redefined American Civil War literature, simply by redefining how antislavery writings were viewed.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Figurative Language Analysis

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a slave narrative published in 1845, Frederick Douglass divulged his past as a slave and presented a multifaceted argument against slavery in the United States. Douglass built his argument with endless anecdotes and colorful figurative language. He attempted to familiarize the naïve Northerners with the hardships of slavery and negate any misconstrued ideas that would prolong slavery’s existence in American homes. Particularly in chapter seven, Douglass both narrated his personal experience of learning to write and identified the benefits and consequences of being an educated slave.

    Read More

  • The Ingenuity of Frederick Douglass: Learning to Write

    524 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his self-titled chronicle, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave", the author presents his audience with a memorable description of his resourcefulness in how he learned to write. His determination to shake off the bonds of illiteracy imposed by his slaveholders created in him the ability to conquer obstacles that held many slaves back. His mastery of the basic steps of the written language would one day play a central role in his success as a free man. The way these skills were acquired teaches us not only of his willpower, but also of his ingenuity as well. The outcome of his efforts culminated in an inimitable slave-narrative, as well as a career as one of the most famous abolitionists that this country would ever know.

    Read More

  • Essay on Literacy in African-American Literature

    2285 Words  | 5 Pages

    As a relatively young man, Frederick Douglass discovers, in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, that learning to read and write can be his path to freedom. Upon discovering that...

    Read More

More about Frederick Douglass Thesis

Open Document